4th Mar 2008
Labour/Plaid Cymru Penalising The Poor By Increasing Bus Fares
John Matthews, Wales Green Party Deputy Leader, has called on the Labour/Plaid WAG Government to pay the 2p fuel duty rebate to bus companies in Wales before the increase in bus fares starts to turn people away from buses and increases the sense of deprivation for the less well off in society - particularly those living in the rural parts of Wales.
The call was made the day after a new report drew attention to the problem of poverty in rural parts of England (1) including access deprivation - something that is all too prevalent in Wales and will be made worse by the Labour/Plaid decision not to give the 2p bus fuel rebate which will lead to a 10% increase in fuel bills. A further 2p fuel duty rebate was also due to be paid in April.
John Matthews said "the Welsh Assembly Government decision not to pass on to bus companies the fuel duty rebate is a retrograde decision. The duty has been paid to bus companies in England while in Wales the failure of the Assembly to pay the bill will mean, for some bus passengers, the third increase in just over a year."
"This decision will hit the poorest people hardest as they are unlikely to have access to alternative transport. It does nothing to encourage people to use public transport and has the opposite effect, turning people away from bus travel. Bus fares have risen faster than other forms of transport, in particular the real cost of car use. Rail fares have risen by 6% and bus fares by 13%. It flies in the face of the Assembly commitment to sustainable development"
John Matthews, the Wales Green Party Deputy Leader, continued "I shall be writing to Ieuan Wyn Jones - the Plaid minister responsible for transport - to ask him to pay the 2p rebate due last autumn and make a commitment to pay a further 2p rebate due in April".
ENDS
Notes for editor
(1) news.bbc.co.uk Poverty 'blights 1m rural homes'
-- For further information (English or Welsh language) contact John Matthews Wales Green Party Deputy Leader on 07973938168 or Wales Green Party Press Officer Jake Griffiths on 07752754537 and cantongreens@hotmail.co.uk .2008
