The purpose of this report is to set out how the £1.1 million Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) capital funding is proposed to be spent and to seek the necessary approvals to do so.

That:

a) approval is given to draw down the £1.1 million Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) capital funding allocated in BSIP+ funding for Herefordshire Council 2025/26 in accordance with the Council’s BSIP and supported by the Enhanced Partnership; and

b) delegated authority is given to the Chief Operating Officer to take all operational decisions (as set out in paras 3 to 5 below) over the lifetime of the project, to deliver the investment set out in recommendation (a)

That these investments are not made. The council continues to maintain bus stops in accordance with sound asset management practices but wholly within the maintenance allocations made available internally. Furthermore, the council continues to support bus services to the best of its ability but without data and planning tools made available. This is not recommended as this does not seek improvements to passenger experience nor seek to improve patronage on the network. The grant would also need to be repaid, so would be a loss of funding to the council.