First Minister quizzed in Senedd about Swansea bus service concerns

Swansea East MS Mike Hedges has raised the issue of poor bus services in his constituency with First Minitser Mark Drakeford and is pressing for a solution to the problems residents are facing.  

Following a session of First Minister questions at the Senedd, Mr Hedges said: "The state of bus services in my constituency is parlous, with wide spread dissatisfaction and anger from my constituents about delays, cancelled services on top of the latest service withdrawals which came in to effect in November.

"Many areas such as the top of Birchgrove have no service at all which means real hardship for elderly people and people looking to get to work.

"Heol Ty Llun, Ffordd Y Mynydd and Drumau Road and streets off them, now have no bus service at all.

"This part of Birchgrove is on a steep hill and a population of approximately 2,500 people.

"People within this area now have to walk down the hill to Birchgrove Road to catch the bus.

"It is a fair walk from the furthest point down to Birchgrove Road, and it is a hell of a walk back up the hill and is too difficult for elderly or disabled who are now completely isolated.

"These people now have real difficulties accessing health services, shops and employment. "There must be a better way of organising bus services in Wales."

Mr Hedges at the questions session asked Mr Drakeford if he could make a statement on the Welsh Government support for bus services in Swansea.

In response Mr Drakeford said: "By the end of this financial year, over £200m of Government funding will have been provided to protect our bus network since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

"A regional network planning team is devising a future network of bus services for Swansea and its neighbouring authorities."

Mr Hedges also asked how the Bus Bill would help improve the situation for passengers.

The proposed bill is a planned reform of bus service delivery in Wales and Mr Hedges said: "We also know bus services have significantly reduced in Swansea, with travel times to work and college being affected, although some have now been returned.

"From government-published data we know that £52.8m has been given to bus companies this year.

"How will the Bus Bill help with much-needed reform so that people can get around by bus?

Mr Drakeford said: "The Bus Bill, when it is introduced, will ensure that public services provided by bus companies are run with the public interest at heart, and that will be a fundamental shift in the way that these services are provided and designed through our local authorities.

"It will reverse the enormous damage done by bus deregulation, which has allowed the pursuit of private profit at the expense of the public interest.

"That's what the Bus Bill is designed to rectify."

Mr Hedges speaking after the questions session added: "I await the publication of the Bus Bill with great interest.  

"If it delivers on what the First Minister said in his statement, it will go a long way to rectifying the awful damage done to bus services as a result of deregulation in the 1980s."