Dear Letters Editor,

On his first column in the County Times commenting on the recent budget, Andrew Griffith MP, expressed his ‘particular concern’ about ‘threats to fuel duty’, claiming that these were due to be made in the budget. As it happened, his apparent concerns over fuel price increases were unnecessary, no increases were threatened or implemented. Perhaps Andrew will issue a point of clarification on this in his next column.

Andrew was correct, however, in pointing out that for many businesses and families in rural areas, a car is a necessity and not a luxury. However, he failed to mention why that is the case. We would like, therefore, to draw attention to a report on the Rural Service Network website, published in February this year. This reveals that from 2011 to 2023, England saw a 20% percent reduction in bus services. The report goes on to point out that rural areas bear the disproportionate brunt of this reduction, with particular issues for young people, the vulnerable and the elderly. We do not recall any mention of these cuts in any of Andrew’s previous columns, despite the fact that he must have been acutely aware of them, being both a rural MP and a member of the government that presided over the cuts to services.

Only a few weeks ago, the County Times reported on concerns raised by residents in Partridge Green about cuts to the village bus service, the latest in a succession of cuts to services in the county over recent years. We do not recall Andrew showing any concern about this. Fortunately, there is some good news about investment in bus services. An additional £925 million was announced in the budget for the 2025 to 2026 financial year, to improve bus services across the country, bringing total bus investment at the Budget to over £1 billion. Hopefully, Andrew Griffith will welcome this investment and he and his colleagues running the county council will ensure that residents in West Sussex will benefit from this public transport subsidy provided by the Government.

Yours sincerely,
Carol Hayton
Horsham Labour Party