ScotGov warned of court action over public control bid for Scots buses

Regulations were laid last month in the Scottish Parliament to give local transport authorities (LTAs)  more options from December 4 to improve bus services in their own areas through the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

It has emerged that that will enable local transport authorities to explore "bus franchising" and "partnership powers" giving what Transport Scotland says are "more options" to improve bus services in their own areas.

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Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has said he was willing to advise on bringing Scotland's privately-run bus system into public control.

But Sandy Easdale, who jointly owns McGill’s Bus Group with his brother James, has said he would be prepared to go to judicial review to challenge re-regulation changes that could force the company into financial difficulty.

McGill's say they have made a 15-year commitment pumping "huge sums of money" to decarbonise the fleet in line with what the Scottish Government has asked for and have called for greater clarity over the plans.

They have questioned what they would do with the vehicles, depots and debt if a multinational conglomerate comes in and under- bids to win a franchise, as they say has happened in Manchester.

Greater Manchester has become the first place in England to re-take control of its buses after nearly 40 years of deregulation, with the launch of the historic Bee Network – ushering in radical improvements to the city-region’s public transport network.

Mr Burnham has overseen the launch of the network last month which promises better, cheaper transport with fares capped across an integrated public transport system that combines buses and Metrolink trams.

The distinctive yellow Manchester buses began appearing at the end of September - taking the service back to the days before the buses were privatised in a move championed by Margaret Thatcher with a promise that passengers would get new and better services.

Mr Burnham said the launch of the network – and particularly the introduction of franchising for buses – was “devolution in England coming of age … It’s a major decision that will have a significant impact on people’s lives”.

He described deregulation of buses outside London in 1986 as a “disaster” for the city, pointing to the divergent outcomes under different regimes in the subsequent decades.

Passenger numbers almost doubled in London, yet all but halved in Greater Manchester, from 355m to 182m in 2019, even before Covid caused further decline.

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And Mr Burnham has said he is keen to help Scotland move in the same direction.

Mr Easdale said: “Andy Burnham says he will advise SNP leader Humza Yousaf but he clearly doesn’t understand the dire financial dynamics we are facing in Scotland. He’s talking absolute nonsense.

McGill''s executives (from left) Ralph Roberts, Sandy Easdale and James Easdale

“I will fight this tooth and nail in the courts. This would be nothing more than business confiscation. I suggest Burnham works on his Labour leadership campaign south of the border and keeps his nose out of the Scottish bus industry of which he is totally ignorant.

“Burnham has offered his services to SNP leader Humza Yousaf but he surely must realise that it will probably very soon be Labour running Scotland under Anas Sarwar. The last thing Mr Sarwar needs is an ill-conceived bus franchising project that will place a huge burden on the taxpayer at a time when the country is in a financial black hole.

“The lesson in all of this is that if control of the services which are already in place is the end game the government needs to work with the industry rather than make an enemy of us. We know what we’re doing and can save them money with a lot less pain in the process.”

By the start of 2025, all of Manchester’s buses will be franchised, and the city hopes to run local trains by 2030.

The cost of franchising remains a major issue, with an estimated £135m bill for the city, covering buying back depots, investing in buses, and subsidising fares among other things.

Fares, with some central government support, are being kept at £2 for a single for at least one year, but the city is looking for higher long-term passenger numbers to allow it to keep the prices down.

Meanwhile, the new Scottish Government transport regulations say that should an LTA ultimately make a bus franchising framework, it may cover the whole or any part of the authority’s area.

Before making a franchising framework, a process must be followed that includes an assessment, a consultation, and obtaining approval to make the proposed framework from a panel convened by the Traffic Commissioner. Two or more LTAs may act jointly to make a franchising framework.

McGill's chief executive Ralph Roberts said: “We await detailed guidance from the Scottish Government but our fear is that this could prove to be unjust, unfair and punitive to good companies like McGill’s who have invested and not profiteered."

He said he would like to see a period between the current situation and full franchising of the marketplace where a network design would be done by in conjunction with the local authority.

He said ticketing and service levels would again be dictated by the local authority.

Mr Roberts said this would give authorities" the control they crave an companies like McGill’s fair treatment and not be penalised through no fault of their own".

He added: “There is mounting pressure for franchising because there is a belief that things will be better with more services, more buses and cheaper fares. Unless local authorities find significant sums of money to put in, this will not be the case, as is the reality in Greater Manchester where many customer outcomes are just the same except for a few minor ticketing adjustments with the tram that impact on very few users."

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Last month, regulations were laid in the Scottish Parliament to give local transport authorities more options to improve bus services in their own areas via the remaining bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

“As well as running their own bus services, local transport authorities will be able to work with operators to further improve the quality and efficiency of local services through a Bus Services Improvement Partnership or to develop a franchising framework, where the authority sets out the services to be provided and standards to be met within an area, contracting bus operators to run them. 

"We encourage all local transport authorities to consider the full range of tools available to them under the 2019 Act, to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport regardless of where they are in Scotland. It will be for local transport authorities to decide what flexible tools within the 2019 Act, if any, they want to use to improve bus provision in their area.

“To support this work, we recently launched the Community Bus Fund, which aims to improve access to bus services, for example by upgrading bus stops and installing real time electronic timetables; encourage integration between transport modes, perhaps by installing infrastructure like mobility hubs; and trial innovative solutions or improvements to encourage patronage or increase efficiency.

“We have been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including bus operators, passenger representatives and local transport authorities, both in Scotland and in England, on the development and delivery of the bus powers within the 2019 Act.”