New govt plans to overhaul bus sector welcomed by Chris Clarkson and criticised by Tony Lloyd

A new government strategy to overhaul buses has been welcomed by Chris Clarkson, Conservative MP for Heywood and Middleton – and criticised by Rochdale’s Labour MP Tony Lloyd for “being anything but ambitious.”

Billed as 'the most ambitious shake-up of the bus sector in a generation', the government’s £3bn strategy aims to introduce more services at weekends and evenings; ‘simpler’ bus fares with daily price caps; integrated services as ticketing across all transport modes; all buses to accept contactless payments.

The government also says it will deliver 4,000 new British-built electric or hydrogen buses, transition cities and regions to emission-free buses, and end the sale of diesel buses.

The reforms aim to see operators and councils work together under statutory ‘enhanced partnerships’ or franchising agreements. It is expected that many councils will choose enhanced partnerships, where local authorities work closely with bus companies, drawing on their operating knowledge and marketing skills.

Franchising Greater Manchester’s buses is already being considered by local leaders, with a decision due soon after two public consultations.
 

Read more: Greater Manchester leaders to make decision on bus franchising for the city-regionPublished: 15 March 2021

Greater Manchester is the first ever city-region in the UK to use the Bus Services Act 2017 to reach the stage of deciding whether to franchise its bus network as part of an integrated transport system.

If the decision is made to proceed with the proposed bus franchising scheme, it would be the biggest change to Greater Manchester’s bus network since deregulation in 1986 and would make Greater Manchester the only city-region outside London to operate a fully-franchised and locally accountable bus network.

But operator Stagecoach has submitted a court application for a judicial review against Greater Manchester’s plans to take control of its bus network, labelling the consultation around the reforms as ‘flawed’.
 

Read more: Stagecoach launches legal challenge against regional bus reformsPublished: 16 March 2021

The government’s strategy has been welcomed by the Heywood and Middleton MP, Chris Clarkson.

Mr Clarkson commented: “Good bus services can have a transformational role in places like Heywood and Middleton, unlocking job opportunities, boosting businesses and supporting economic growth.

“This new National Strategy Bus Strategy, backed by £3 billion, will help make to make this a reality – paving the way for simpler fares, more reliable services, and better connections across every part of the country.

“At the last general election, I stood on a manifesto that promised to level up and improve transport connections across Heywood and Middleton and this boost to our local bus services will help to deliver on that promise.

However, Mr Lloyd, Rochdale MP, is critical of the plans, saying the strategy is 'long overdue' and 'lacks ambition' – but agrees a new pricing system 'is a welcome step'.

Mr Lloyd said: “Let's be clear, Prime Minister Johnson described his long overdue bus strategy as ‘ambitious’ but in reality it is anything but ambitious.

“This Conservative government have failed to deliver on their promise to ensure funds were properly directed to oversee the transition to electric and low emission vehicles. It's been over a year since the promise was made for 4,000 zero-emission buses, but work on these buses hasn't even started yet. Even if work had started, it would still lack ambition given that there are 32,000 buses in England alone.

“Even with a one-to-one replacement, that could leave more than 28,000 buses that are not zero-emission which may well be serving areas that are being considered for clean air zones because of deadly pollution levels.

“Secondly, the government says that it wants buses to become more frequent. That's all very well, but it comes off the back of the government overseeing the loss of 134 million miles of bus routes since 2010, and as a result of this bus coverage in Britain is now the lowest it's been in 30 years.

“We need to see a reversal of the 3,000 bus cuts we've seen over the past decade, but there is no detail in the strategy on how the government will ensure that, and whether it will be simply be the case that a few more services will be added to existing well-served routes.

“Whilst it is a welcome step that the government is introducing a new pricing system that will help keep costs down, the cost of transport was already forcing people off buses pre-Covid-19. We need detail on how to make sure that fares will not rise disproportionately in future, and how they will be brought down to a reasonable price that passengers can afford and to encourage wider use of public transport. That detail isn't there in the strategy.

“Deregulation has failed the vast majority of bus users and people in this country. We drastically need improvements that are not only fit for bus users, but fit to tackle the climate emergency.

“Until we see those measures come into effect, the Conservative government cannot claim this to be a radical and ambitious green bus strategy.”