Bus fare controls put on hold

Civil servants at the Department for Transport are stalling the introduction of ways to control Rochdale’s bus fares and timetables because the Conservatives say they would remove them from the Local Transport Act if they win the next election, it is claimed.

Manchester Councillor Andrew Fender, leader of Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority’s Labour group which lost control last year, said: “They have been kicked into the long grass in case there is a general election result which means quality contracts will disappear for several years to come.”

Stockport Labour Councillor Peter Scott said: “The DfT has a very powerful civil service lobby which tries to run the ministers.”

The contracts are a feature of the Local Transport Act. Voluntary partnerships which can include requirements about service frequencies, timings, and maximum fares became possible earlier this month but the powers to force quality contracts on bus operators are not due to come into force until late this year.

It was at a fringe meeting organised by the Greater Manchester Authority at the last Tory Party conference in Birmingham that shadow transport minister Stephen Hammond pledged to repeal the clauses concerning quality contracts. He said in October: “I am concerned that far from increasing bus services, it will force operators to decide not to run them at all. Taking us back to reregulation is not the answer to the problems.”

Although GMITA is now controlled by a Conservative/Lib-Dem coalition, its policy committee agreed to a motion from Councillor Fender to lobby Greater Manchester’s MPs to put pressure on the DfT to issue guidance on contracts as soon as possible.

In the meantime, the authority is initially seeking to draw up a bus strategy in partnership with the operators.

Director Mike Renshaw said: “We want to drive the agenda with the operators and try to bring out some of the inefficiencies and flaws in our network.

“We also want to look at standards — which are, at best, mixed in the way the commercial operators run their services.

“We are looking at driver behaviour and uniforms and hope to reach agreement over a code of conduct and put down a clear benchmark which will lead to operators addressing the consistency of standards.”

The strategy sets out a vision of a “safe, comprehensive, sustainable and integrated public transport network complemented by excellent information, ticketing, waiting and interchange facilities and supported by high quality and reliable services”.