Thank you to everyone who has got in touch about Thanet’s buses.
Improving bus services in Thanet is one of my highest priorities, because I regularly hear from people that inadequate, unreliable, and expensive services are letting people down or preventing them from accessing work or education. I’m pleased that the government has given Kent £70 million in additional funding to improve bus services, and I want to see Thanet get its fair share of that money.
I have recently met with the regional director from Stagecoach, who run the bus services in East Kent. I had a really promising conversation with him about restoring some routes in Thanet. This included the 34 bus route which used to be on Dumpton Park Drive, and the number 9 bus which used to connect Ramsgate, Broadstairs, and Canterbury.
Earlier this year I launched my petition to bring back the Number 9 bus – you can sign it here. I’ve also now launched a Thanet bus survey, so you can have your say about how you think bus services can be improved. Please do take five minutes to fill it out and share your views with me by clicking here.
You may have recently seen media coverage about the shocking figures I uncovered showing that Thanet received just 2.3% of Kent County Council bus subsidies last year. The figures show that Thanet received by far the lowest bus subsidy of any of Kent’s districts. Despite being Kent’s most deprived district, Thanet finds itself languishing at the bottom of the subsidy leaderboard. In total, Thanet received a dismal £555,000 in 2025, or just 2.3% of total Kent bus subsidies of £24.2 million. Meanwhile, wealthy Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells each received more than £3 million, while affluent Sevenoaks got a whopping £4 million.
That’s completely unacceptable, which is why I wrote to the Reform UK leader of Kent County Council calling on her to ensure that Thanet gets its fair share of the government’s new funding for local bus services in the future.