Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset, said yesterday that proposed franchising models for bus services could “affect the local taxpayer and business rates payer.”
Speaking during a debate on the new, Bus Services Bill which aims to re-regulate bus services for those parts of the country which want it, Drax said that, while local operators in South Dorset welcomed working together with local authorities, they thought franchising was a “slightly perverse route for a Conservative Government to follow.”
“If a franchise model was adopted, this could lead to a future layer of bureaucracy being introduced, and the local authority would be designing the bus network and setting prices,” said Drax
In addition, said Drax, bus operators were concerned that if revenue was reduced under the franchise model, “there is a risk that the shortfall will be made up from other means that will affect the local taxpayer and business rates payer.”
Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling replied, “We have to ensure both public and private funding for buses. Those who seek to make a change need to understand the impact and be certain that they will bring improvements to passengers. There is sometimes a dogma and ideology that assumes that greater state control means a better service, but often a lack of private sector investment means nothing happens at all—so it is the other way around.”
The Bus Services Bill is in response to widespread concerns about the decline in passenger numbers; requirements for local authorities to step in and subsidise ‘socially necessary’ services which are commercially unviable; uncertainty about services and timetables; and a lack of coordination particularly as regards fares.
The Bill is essentially an enabling Bill, extending the ability of local transport authorities to introduce franchising or a new partnership arrangement called an enhanced partnership.