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Burnham launches £2 bus fare cap, 20% rates relief

7/26/2026

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Burnham Announces Cuts

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a £2 bus-fare cap and a 20% business-rates cut for pubs, clubs and live-music venues at No 10 North in Manchester, effective 2027.
The £1.5 billion programme is funded by converting climate-project grants into loans, with repayment terms not fully detailed.
The Department for Transport estimates the bus-fare cap will cost over £500 million.
The Treasury projects the business-rates cut will cost about £100 million each year.

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Burnham Announces Cuts

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a £2 bus-fare cap and a 20% business-rates cut for pubs, clubs and live-music venues at No 10 North in Manchester.
Critics noted the measures exclude Northern Ireland, arguing the cost-of-living agenda widens regional inequality.
Burnham removed VAT on household electricity, lowering bills by £45 per household and costing the Treasury about £850 million.
He pledged £340 million for 1,200 homes and aid to at least 3,000 rough sleepers.

Blindspot

Prime Minister Andy Burnham scrapped VAT on household electricity bills, cutting the average household bill by £45 and incurring an estimated Treasury cost of roughly £850 million.

History

Historical Context

Since the 1960s the UK subsidised buses via the Fuel Duty Rebate, renamed the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) by the Transport Act 2000. After a 20 % cut in 2012 and pandemic-era Covid Bus Service Support Grants, England launched a £2 single-fare cap on 1 January 2023; Burnham’s 2024 £2 cap and £100 million rates cut revive this pattern. England’s bus subsidies were £2.3 billion in 2014/15.

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Burnham Announces Cuts

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a £2 bus-fare cap and a 20% business-rates cut for pubs, clubs and live-music venues at No 10 North in Manchester, effective 2027.
The £1.5 billion programme is funded by converting climate-project grants into loans, with repayment terms not fully detailed.
The Department for Transport estimates the bus-fare cap will cost over £500 million.
The Treasury projects the business-rates cut will cost about £100 million each year.

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