Lilian Greenwood MP & Daniel Zeichner MP: The case for bus reform is clear
5 min read
Two Shadow Transport ministers seek 'to get the best deal for passengers' on the day the Bus Services Bill receives its 2nd reading in the House of Lords.
The long-awaited Bus Services Bill is finally having a second reading in the House of Lords today. Bus services are absolutely crucial for our communities, but for decades there has been something fundamentally defective about the way those services are run.
The bus market has in many areas been carved and divvied up by just a handful of big operators, and it is clear that passengers are not being put first. Throughout the last Parliament Ministers consistently opposed any proposals to reverse the disastrous deregulation of the bus market that occurred under the Tories in the 1980s - and which made this detrimental market monopolisation possible in the first place.
The 1984 Buses White Paper argued that:
“Without the dead hand of restrictive regulation fares could be reduced now on many bus routes…New and better services would be provided. More people would travel.”
Unsurprisingly, a Conservative Government’s rhetoric was not matched by the reality. Since deregulation the number of bus passenger journeys in England outside of London has plummeted, fares have shot up faster than wages and vital bus routes and services have been axed. In London, on the other hand, buses were never deregulated and the story there has been profoundly different. Bus patronage since 1986/7 in London has doubled, mileage has increased by around three quarters and fare rises have been lower than in other city regions. London has bucked the long-term trend of bus decline seen elsewhere in England, so it’s no surprise that the capital is often held up as a model for those looking for a solution to their local public transport problems.
Labour has long called for local communities to have control over the operation of the bus services in their area; and to have ‘London-style’ powers over their buses, should they wish it. In 2000 and 2008, the Labour Government legislated to give local councils the option to re-regulate their bus services. Unfortunately, since these new powers became available, local authorities have ultimately found themselves blocked from accessing them. Labour councillors in Tyne and Wear pursuing bus tendering powers were last year accused by Stagecoach of being ‘unreconstructed Stalinists’ and received no support from Ministers. It was also suggested that local authorities would have to pay up to £226 million in compensation if they wished to regulate local services. Such threats and financial burdens on hard-press local authorities are unacceptable, and the case for legislative reform is clear.
We have been astonished but pleased to observe the Transport Secretary’s conversion to the cause of bus regulation. Having in the 1990s personally defended the deregulation of the bus market, and blocked funding for areas that pursued local oversight in the last Parliament, he has come around to Labour’s way of thinking in what can only be described as a screeching u-turn. Now provisions in the Bill would see those areas with an elected mayor given powers to tender bus services in their area. Like London, they would be able to set services, as well as fares and timetables, and private bus operators would compete for the chance to win bids to run those services. The Bill would also act to strengthen partnerships between local authorities and operators. Greater Manchester, Greater Lincolnshire, Liverpool City Region, Cornwall and all those other areas that have signed devolution deals will finally be able to provide their services using whichever model they think best fits their locality - this is very welcome.
Unfortunately the devolution revolution rhetoric falls flat elsewhere, as areas without a mayor will have to seek permission from the Transport Secretary for those very same powers. This is difficult to justify: what is good enough for one area should be good enough for every area, but many of those communities that have been worst affected by cuts to bus funding lie outside of devolution deal areas. Local authorities, of course, have stepped in with supported bus services to plug the service provision gaps. But this has become increasingly impossible as a consequence of severe financial constraints resulting from cuts to their Government grants. Indeed in just the last year 63% of local authorities in England and Wales were forced to cut support for bus services. Since 2010 over 2,400 routes have been downgraded or withdrawn altogether. In a senselessly partisan move, the Bill would also block local authorities from setting up new municipal bus companies, and we will work to try to amend the Bill as it progresses through Parliament.
Bus reform is finally back on the agenda. While it might be a case of better late than never, this time we have cross-party support. We will be doing everything we can to help local authorities address the decades-long decline of bus services, and to get the best deal for passengers – wherever they live. Anything less would be to do a disservice to the millions of people relying on bus services every day.
Lilian Greenwood MP is Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, and Daniel Zeichner MP is Labour’s Shadow Local Transport Minister
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