Mayor to accelerate Region's London style bus revolution with £2 fares

BUS journeys across the Liverpool City Region could soon cost as little as £2 under proposals announced by Mayor Steve Rotheram. If agreed, some passengers would see a saving of up to 13% in the cost of a single journey regardless of which service they use, taking away the hassle and confusion of the Region's complex ticketing system. The Mayor has also said that young people should to continue to benefit from all day unlimited travel on bus by freezing the MyTicket at:- £2.20 until 2025. Plans are also in the works to simplify the Region's wider ticketing system under a:- 'tap and go system,' that would daily fare caps that would allow for greater freedom and flexibility with passengers guaranteed to always pay the cheapest fare. Earlier this year the Liverpool City Region took an important step towards the major reform of its buses after local leaders voted to confirm franchising as the preferred model for running the network; a landmark move that would reverse the industry's deregulation in the mid-1980's.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:- "1 of the reasons that I ran to be the 1st Mayor of the Liverpool City Region was the opportunity to revolutionise our broken, fragmented public transport system. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on buses to get about every day; yet far too many tell me that they are too expensive, too unreliable and too confusing. We took a major step forward on this earlier this year, when we chose franchising as our preferred model for running our Region's buses. This latest announcement will help ease the burden on people; especially during the cost of living crisis; by making it cheaper for them to get about. This is just a down payment on my wider ambitions, though. I'm fighting to win London style funding that will allow us to revolutionise our buses, trains and ferries and bring them together into a transport network that is better connected, faster, and cleaner. If it's good enough for the capital, then it's the very least that we should expect here in our Region. This is the difference that devolution, with proper local decision making, is making to our Region."

The proposals will be discussed at the Combined Authority meeting on Friday, 10 June 2022, and are subject to agreement with the bus operators and for an initial 3 year period.  Subject to confirmation, the £12m Bus Services Improvement Plan (BSIP) allocation will be used to fund these measures which are designed to encourage more people to use the bus by helping them travel further for less as well as helping the environment.  However, it is only the start as more funding is needed to realise the ambition set out in the BSIP and deliver the bus services that local people have asked for including additional evening and weekend services, as well as more hydrogen buses. Aligned to the Region's Vision for Bus, this latest round of investment is a key part of Mayor Rotheram's pledge to reform the Region's transport by building a London style system that will take travelling around:- quicker, cheaper, greener and more reliable.
 

Maricourt Catholic High School have achieved the Wellbeing Award

MARICOURT Catholic High School are delighted to have achieved the Wellbeing Award for Schools, Awarded by Optimus Education in partnership with the National Children's Bureau. Assistant Head Teacher and Mental Health Leader Danielle Lawler stated:- "This emphaises our outstanding commitment to promoting emotional wellbeing and positive mental health. We are so proud at how all our stakeholders came together to help achieve the award."

The Award has taken a year to prepare for, the requirements included the creation of action plans, audits and mapping exercises, which involved all staff. The assessment day consisted of a tour and a presentation on how the School had met each of the 8 objectives set out by the awarding body. This was followed by pupil, staff, parent and governor interviews. The valuator was really impressed by her visit to the School and commented on how all the stakeholders could not speak any more highly of the wellbeing support and systems on offer at Maricourt.

Joe Mangan HeadTeacher stated:- "Pastoral care has always been the main bloodline at Maricourt Catholic High School, and we are proud to say that this has extended to a whole School approach to mental health and wellbeing. We can not wait to continue to expand our wellbeing team and develop further relationships with our wide variety of partnerships and external agencies. This term we hope to see the expansion of the pupil wellbeing champions as well as create a team of staff wellbeing ambassadors."