Report highlights issues with North Yorkshire's rural bus service
The Transport to Work and Study Review was compiled by Align Property Services.It highlighted a limited number of connections from west of the A1 to Northallerton and Thirsk railway stations, adding that those available did not align with train timetables.It said there was a lack of direct services to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and no bus services operating in Swaledale during peak times.The review also noted there were no bus services from Leyburn and Masham to Bedale at peak times to connect with the 73 bus service to Northallerton, and no bus services from Wensleydale and Ripon to Richmond at peak times to meet the 55 service to Northallerton or 29 to Darlington.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report concluded: "Analysis of existing public transport provision has indicated that the majority of settlements are lacking service provision during peak hours."It said while main towns were "an exception" not all providers offered the same level of service."The surveys indicated that businesses had a general dissatisfaction with the availability of bus services, felt that this impacted their ability to recruit members of staff and negatively impacted their business," it said.The report made a number of recommendations such as improving the information about existing services, implementing multi-operator bus ticketing, extending existing services to cover peak times and ensuring bus timetables connected with train times.It also suggested looking at implementing a bus franchising model.The result of the review is due to be discussed by members of the Richmond area committee on 30 June.
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The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
Wednesday briefing: Is Rachel Reeves about to overhaul the dreaded council tax?
Good morning. Britain's fiscal outlook is bleak. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, faces the daunting task of closing a £40bn black hole in the public finances. There is intense speculation over how she intends to, as runs that oft-used phrase, balance the books. This week, my colleagues have reported that the chancellor is considering a new 'proportional' property tax. It would mark a radical overhaul of stamp duty and council tax. While there has been a good deal of focus on stamp duty, changes to council tax in England have the potential to be the most transformative – and explosive. Almost all political parties agree that the council tax system – which replaced the deeply unpopular poll tax in 1991 and has remained unchanged since – is unfair and must be reformed. But just how to do so is notoriously complex and politically tricky – especially when so many local councils are strapped for cash. 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Work | Older employees who are disturbed by younger, more boisterous colleagues in the workplace are not victims of age harassment, an employment tribunal has ruled. When you move into a new home, one of the first letters that comes through your letterbox is the amount of council tax you owe to the local authority. This local form of taxation is paid by every household living in the area, whether renting or owning. The funds are used to pay for services from rubbish collection to meals on wheels. It is a tax that people can see and feel in their daily lives. Just how council tax came to be goes some way to explain why there has been such a reluctance to try to change it. Before council tax, a system called rates used to fund local councils. In the 1980s, Margret Thatcher's Conservative government tried to introduce a flat tax, payable no matter the value of the property you lived in, or the income you were on. This became widely known as the poll tax. 'It was controversial. The poll tax was first introduced in Scotland as a sort of pilot scheme and there was a big uproar. When it was coming to England in the late 1980s, there were huge riots, which coincided with the massive unpopularity of the tail end of the Thatcher administration,' Richard Partington tells me. 'It was one of the factors that brought down her premiership. And to replace it, they went back to this compromised, fudged system between the old rates system and the poll tax, and it was called council tax.' The system was devised in 1991 and came into effect in 1993. The problem, however, is that the amount someone pays in council tax is still based on what property prices were in 1991. Which would work, if only we hadn't built any homes since then and prices had never changed. 'There's something like 4.5m new homes or more that have been built since 1991, and then countless more conversions of factory buildings, of barns, and other non-residential properties, like shops, to homes. And you've got this army of experts trying to guess how much it would have been worth in 1991,' Richard says. It's not just those on the left who think the system, as it stands, is absurd. Richard points to criticism by David Willetts, the chair of the Resolution Foundation, who was advising on tax policy in Margaret Thatcher's policy unit in the 1980s. 'He actually thinks that council tax has become as regressive as the poll tax.' Fundamentally unfair system It is worth spelling out just how ridiculous the council tax system is. Several taxation bands dictate how much a household will have to pay to a local authority. But a resident in Blackpool living in a band B property, where the average house price is £130,000, will pay £1,860; while in Kensington and Chelsea, where the average house is worth £2.2m, the same band B bill would be £1,220. 'It hasn't taken account of the huge booming property valuations that have taken place over the past 30-odd years. And that means that you've got people living in hugely expensive homes that are paying relatively low rates of council tax. And that is sort of fundamentally unfair,' Richard says. Of course, the question of how to fix a situation where the numbers are so out of touch with reality brings its own problems – but we'll get to that later. A worsening funding crisis Council tax is not the only way local authorities get money. They also receive grants from central government. But due to austerity measures under Conservative governments, spending power funded by these grants fell in real terms by more than 50% between 2010 and 2021. This is coupled with local councils' ballooning budgets trying to cater to the growing needs of the population. Councils are in charge of a lot more than just littering and local libraries; for example, they front the costs for social care for vulnerable adults and children. 'A large part of what councils do, most people won't see on a day-to-day basis. But adult and children's social care service spending has increased so much because we've got an older and increasingly unwell population, and the cost of delivery has increased. To pay for that, there have been cuts to other areas of spending like road cleaning and libraries,' Richard says. Several councils have declared bankruptcy as a result in recent years and they won't be alone in feeling the pinch. Almost half of councils in England risk falling into bankruptcy without action to address a £4.6bn deficit amassed under Conservative-era policies, according to the government's spending watchdog. 'Most people who wouldn't come into contact with adult social or children's services think that they're paying more to their local authority and not getting much for it. They don't understand why and that's a huge issue.' Winners and losers The problem with the council tax system is that the longer we wait, the harder it becomes to fix, Richard says. With the local council funding crisis coming to a head, the Labour government cannot choose to look away like its predecessors. But the solutions floated come with their own headaches. The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, is spearheading the 'fair funding review', to figure out a new way of distributing central government grant funding to councils. That is due to come in from April next year and is under consultation. 'Among the things they're looking at is rebalancing the amount of funding for councils in more deprived areas so that they receive more money in central government funding than wealthier areas. Largely that is going to help councils in the north of England and the Midlands, where they have historically been underfunded by central government grants. And the losers will be in London and the south and the home counties,' Richard says. But a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that some of the biggest losers will be inner London boroughs where property valuations might be high but there are pockets of deep deprivation and child poverty. 'It highlights that while reforming the system that is so broken, there are going to be all kinds of issues that pop up in the process. You might think that you're addressing one problem, but another one will arise as a consequence,' Richard says. More fundamental reforms Reeves is reportedly considering overhauling stamp duty and council tax in a bid to raise desperately needed revenue. This was an idea put forward last year by Dr Tim Leunig, who was a government adviser in Rishi Sunak's Treasury, in a report for the centre-right thinktank Onwards. 'His idea was to replace council tax and stamp duty in one go with a proportional property tax that would take more accurate account of current property valuations on a national level, and a local version that would fund local services that would over time replace council tax,' Richard explains. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The reporting suggests any changes to council tax will probably not take place until Labour wins a second term. Is this Labour kicking the can down the line? Richard doesn't think so. 'It's a slow process because there are all these issues to consider. One of the problems is that the scale of the house price changes since the 90s means that if you were to institute a council tax that was actually reflective of current property values, you'd probably crash the London property market and lots of other places where house prices have boomed since the 90s,' Richard says. He adds that there are many people across the country who might live in what are now hugely valuable properties, but it doesn't mean they bought them for those prices. And, perhaps most importantly, it doesn't mean they have high incomes to pay for a regular council tax charge that reflects the modern-day value of the home. 'People hate council tax, and the idea that your council tax would significantly rise would be politically toxic for Labour,' Richard says. 'So they've been very careful with it.' 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Dozens of cameras have been set up along the route to enable people across Sweden and the world to watch as part of the latest 'slow TV' extravaganza billed as 'Den stora kyrkflytten' (the big church move). More than 10,000 people, including the Swedish king, Carl XVI Gustaf, are expected to line the streets – which have been widened especially. The endeavour took eight years of planning, and the church is not expected to reopen at its new location at the end of next year. The whole town is being moved to make way for the expansion of Europe's biggest underground mine. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply
BBC News
28 minutes ago
- BBC News
Classic TT return aims to reverse post-Covid August visitor dip
The return of the Classic TT has been designed reverse a post-pandemic slump in visitors to road racing on the Isle of Man in August, organisers have in 2013, the brand was scrapped by the Manx government after a review in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic but is set to return alongside the 2025 Manx Grand Prix (MGP).A peak of 16,019 people visited the event in 2019 but that had dropped to 14,229 last year after being run solely under the MGP banner since government's head of motorsport Paul Phillips said while the three-year return of the Classic TT would provide a "spectacle", it aimed to boost the economy by growing visitor numbers beyond pre-pandemic levels. Mr Phillips said: "The event exists to boost the economy, it is funded by several million pounds of public money and it exists to generate a benefit to the visitor economy."As part of the reintroduction, the event has been expanded to a 13-day format from its truncated 9-day schedule introduced in said early indications on accommodation and ferry travel showed that bookings "were up" for 2025, but it was too early to say to "what degree".Organisers were "optimistic" that "over a number of years it could return to pre-pandemic levels".It was hoped the figures would "ultimately surpass" the previous peak in order to "ensure the financial sustainability" of the event in future, he the return of the Classic TT late last year, the Department for Enterprise (DfE) said the "strategic intervention" was designed to "encourage additional visitors to the latter part of the event".As there had been a "significant increase in global interest" in the TT the move looked to "leverage this momentum", it added. Wednesday evening sees the start of qualifying for the Classic TT classes, with racing on classic and vintage machinery scheduled for 27 and 29 Phillips said the paddock would become "a home to a whole lot of really interesting bikes and memorabilia" during the event."At TT the machines are kind-of similar, whereas at Classic TT there's a huge range of motorcycles from decades of motorcycling racing," he "great bikes from yesteryear being ridden to their maximum" was a "spectacle" and a "really important" part of the competition, he with the mountain circuit's "unique heritage" and there were also "lots of stories from over 100 years of racing that the Classic TT can tell", such as motorcycle legend Joey Dunlop's final three wins on the island 25 years ago, he feat is set to be showcased in a pop-up exhibition featuring Joey's race leathers, helmets, and trophies at the Mercury Club located near the TT the milestone will be marked again n the final day of the festival when Joey's nephew and all-time TT race win record holder Michael Dunlop will ride a replica of his uncle's 2000 Honda SP1 in a tribute lap."That will be big moment, it will be special," Mr Phillips said. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Six ways to get real about rail fares
Everyone seems to be talking about rail fares. The excitement is due to the third Wednesday in August traditionally being Act One of the annual festival of rail fare misery. The publication of the retail prices index figure for July has long heralded an outpouring of despair. That is because train tickets normally increase in line with last month's RPI (or sometimes 1 per cent more). Act Two usually takes place in November, when the rail industry confirms the worst fears of the travelling public. Anyone with a calculator and a bit of time could have worked out the actual fare rises during the previous three months. But there is fresh shock when they are published. For example, a 3.6 per cent rise for 2026 would see the price of a one-way Anytime ticket from Manchester to London rise to exactly £200, and a monthly season ticket from Bristol to Cardiff hit £400. The last act is performed on the day the rises take effect. Platoons of camera crews converge on a London rail terminal – usually Euston or King's Cross, due to the abundance of coffee facilities as well as fed-up commuters to 'vox pop'. The finale is the same every year: an unharmonious chorus of condemnation which goes, approximately, 'Why should we pay even more for unreliable trains that are standing-room only?' Ministers hint this cycle is different: that there is nothing special about the July figure that suggests it will define the fare rise early in 2026. 'No decisions have been made on next year's rail fares,' a spokesperson for the Department for Transport (DfT) told me. 'But our aim is that prices balance affordability for both passengers and taxpayers.' Allow me to add a couple of lines that have unaccountably been left out of the DfT statement: 'The way to rescue the railway and reduce the astonishing subsidy of £400 per second taxpayers pump in is to entice more people on board. 'Prospective passengers find the tangle of ticketing highly confusing and suspect they are being ripped off. In addition, the way we distribute tickets loses a chunk of revenue. So we are finally going to overhaul the ticketing system, as every government this century has promised to do.' With the railway celebrating 200 years next month, you might have thought we would sort out ticketing in that time. We haven't. Happily, I am here to help with this quest, with my top six recommendations. How many do I expect the government to adopt? Zero. I hope I am wrong. Go 100 per cent digital 'We have to provide tickets in whatever form the passenger prefers: paper from a machine or ticket office, or an e-ticket.' No you don't. Follow the airlines. Saves a fortune. That vital QR code ticket can always be in paper form, perhaps printed at helpdesks at stations, but very quickly the travelling public will adapt. Especially if they sense someone is actually thinking about their journey. Show you understand the passenger To make life easier for long-suffering passengers, the railway could deploy some logic in its online offering. I estimate that 99.9 per cent of all passengers from Swansea who tap 'C-A-R' into the National Rail website are keen to travel to Cardiff Central. Yet this is the seventh choice in a long list. The top three destinations offered: Carlisle in the far northwest of England; the tiny halt of Carbis Bay in north Cornwall; and Cardenden in Fife. The one in a million passenger who actually wants to go from Swansea to beautiful Carbis Bay will cope. Tie every ticket to a particular train On Wednesday I am travelling from Manchester to Preston. I don't know which train I will catch, but I do know that Northern Rail (state owned, by the way) will offer me a reasonable and appropriate Advance fare, up to a few minutes before departure, as I walk to the station. The exact price is calibrated by algorithms according to expected demand, just like the low-cost airlines that have transformed aviation to everyone's benefit. Opportunity for fare dodging will shrink, helping to rescue perhaps half-a-billion pounds of lost revenue. And if sensible fares are offered, the practice of splitting tickets simply vanishes. Many long-in-the-tooth rail users (probably including me) will complain about a lack of flexibility. Tough: allowing a ridiculous range of options to get from A to B – such as London-Manchester via Leicester and Sheffield or Reading and Oxford – is just not relevant for most passengers. Remind the old groaners that delay repay (compensation for late journeys) will be handed out instantly under the new system, refunded back to the payment method. Intercity optimisation Imagine asking British Airways: 'What is the fare from London Heathrow to Glasgow?' BA's revenue management team – who squeeze the maximum cash out of every passenger while simultaneously trying to fill every seat – would look blankly at you. Then they might shrug and say: 'It's whatever the market will bear.' On Thursday, a peak demand day, BA's answer is anywhere between £159 and £323. On other days, it might be as low as £50 for people who commit in advance and as high as £500 for those desperate to travel at two hours' notice. Rail revenue managers should have the same freedom, rather than saying: 'The most you will ever pay between London and Glasgow, however many people want to travel, is £205.' Railcard revolution Either remove railcard discounts – which would be deeply unpopular – or do as the Swiss do, and allow anyone to buy a railcard. That will help those disenfranchised people aged between 31 and 59 who don't particularly want to travel with a specified Other Person or an annoying child aged 5-15. Will overall revenue rise? Who knows? The best way to find out is to try it, and then have the guts to retract it should the plan prove 'abstractive' (railway term for losing revenue). Stand-up standbys LNER, the state-run main operator on the East Coast main line, has an annoying habit of claiming its trains are full. Friday's departures from Edinburgh to York between 8am and 1pm are all shown as 'not available'. This is tosh, because anyone who knows how to work the system (you pretend you want to start your journey from nearby Haymarket and pay £63.80 for an off-peak ticket) can climb on board and stand if necessary. In Korea the national railway monetises busy trains by selling standing tickets at around half-price – with the standee able to sit down if there's an empty seat.
