What has Burnham promised since he became PM, and when will it happen?
Andy Burnham has promised to cap single bus fares at £2 and scrap VAT on household electricity bills. He has also floated policies to shift power out of Westminster, bring services under public control, and address the rising cost of living.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Andy Burnham has made several promises since becoming prime minister, including capping single bus fares at £2, scrapping VAT on household electricity bills, and tackling homelessness. He has also backed moves to bring the West Midlands bus network under public control.
Andy Burnham is the new prime minister of the UK. He has made some promises to help people, like making bus fares cheaper and helping people who are homeless. He also wants to make it easier for people to get around and to make sure that everyone has a place to live.
Analysis
Capping Single Bus Fares at £2
Burnham's decision to cap single bus fares at £2 has been met with both praise and criticism. The move is expected to cost £454m, with £400m coming from switching investment in international climate finance to loans and the rest from savings in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's budget. While the cap will last until the end of 2027, excluding London, experts have raised concerns that using the aid budget to pay for cheaper bus fares in England will leave the world's most vulnerable people at risk, especially those facing the most severe impacts of the climate crisis.
Scrapping VAT on Household Electricity Bills
Burnham's promise to scrap VAT on household electricity bills from October is expected to reduce the average household's electricity bill by £45. The move is funded by ending Keir Starmer's digital ID scheme, which would have cost the government £1.8bn over three years. However, Darren Jones, the former chief secretary to Starmer when he was PM, has claimed the money for the digital ID scheme is still unfunded, and Burnham will have to set out how he will pay for his new policies at the budget.
Tackling Homelessness
Burnham has made tackling homelessness a central policy for his government. While he did not say he would completely end rough sleeping by Christmas, he said everyone sleeping rough would be offered a route off the streets. The government has committed £442m to a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas, with £102m paying for medical care and addiction support and £340m from existing housing budgets over the next three years to get more people into accommodation and settled housing. Burnham has not set a target for how much rough sleeping will fall, but instead said real progress must have been made by Christmas, as officials acknowledge they are not able to force people into accommodation they don't want.
Free 24-Hour Bus Travel for Disabled People
Burnham has changed the entitlement for disabled people in England to use their bus passes at any time of the day, seven days a week, from April 2027. The government has committed £60m to pay for the change, and has delayed the implementation of the policy until next spring so local authorities have time to change their current arrangements and the government has time to amend legislation.
West Midlands Bus Network Under Public Control
Burnham has backed moves for the West Midlands Combined Authority to bring its bus network under public control, announcing an extra £11.5m over three years of new funding to help it manage the change. The money will pay for legal advice, staff, and IT systems as the network changes hands. Burnham said about 4,800 jobs would be protected, and 750 buses a day would be kept running during the transition. The cost of the deal is still being ironed out, but the government is separately giving the authority more than £2bn over five years for zero-emission buses.
Cutting Business Rates for Pubs and Music Venues
Burnham has promised a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs, and most live-music venues from April next year. The government said about 32,000 businesses would benefit, with the average pub saving at least £1,100 a year. The measure is expected to cost about £100m a year, and ministers insist they will pay for it by making other businesses such as vape shops pay more in business rates and cracking down on overseas sellers avoiding VAT on online marketplaces.
Key points
- Andy Burnham has promised to cap single bus fares at £2 and scrap VAT on household electricity bills.
- He has also floated policies to shift power out of Westminster, bring services under public control, and address the rising cost of living.
- Burnham has committed £442m to a national drive to get everyone in for Christmas, with £102m paying for medical care and addiction support and £340m from existing housing budgets over the next three years to get more people into accommodation and settled housing.
- The government has committed £60m to pay for free 24-hour bus travel for disabled people in England from April 2027.
- Burnham has backed moves for the West Midlands Combined Authority to bring its bus network under public control, announcing an extra £11.5m over three years of new funding to help it manage the change.
If Burnham's policies play out positively, the cost of living could decrease, and more people could have access to affordable transportation and housing. The move to bring the West Midlands bus network under public control could also lead to more jobs and a more efficient public transportation system.
However, some of Burnham's policies, such as using the aid budget to pay for cheaper bus fares in England, could have negative consequences, such as leaving vulnerable people at risk. Additionally, the cost of implementing some of his policies, such as cutting business rates for pubs and music venues, could be high and may not be sustainable in the long term.
