Councils could get chance to run own bus services under new powers

Councils could get the chance to run their own bus services if a bill published by the Welsh Government gets approval.

Transport minister Ken Skates is championing the Bus Services (Wales) Bill which was published last week.

Mr Skates said deregulation of bus services in the 1980s had been an “abject failure” and action was needed to put passengers first and improve services.

The new powers, if adopted, would also allow councils to franchise bus service routes and enter into “partnership agreements” with operators.

Mr Skates said: “Passenger numbers are falling and it’s clear that the free market model simply does not work.

“Bus services can’t be sold like washing powder or apples – they are a vital public service that need to be planned in a coordinated and rational way for passengers.”

He said the bill would end the “free market model” and added: “It puts passengers first by giving local authorities the opportunity to better plan and deliver bus services through new franchising powers and by lifting the ban on councils establishing their own bus companies.

“It will remove the restriction which currently prevents a local authority from running bus services.”

Local authorities would also have the opportunity of working with neighbouring councils to deliver services on cross-county routes.

He claimed the bill would help the 15% of households in Wales without access to a car and give people a greener alternative to using their vehicles to commute.

But he stressed it must be done alongside “investment in Metro systems and plans to tackle congestion”.

He said: “It is a vital toolkit that can help us deliver on our ambition for an integrated and seamless public transport system that gets people out of their cars.”

Denbighshire’s lead member for transport Councillor Brian Jones urged caution over the proposals.

He said: “We need to look at it in a measured way and weigh up the pros and cons.

“The devil is in the detail and we need to progress along those lines and see what is in the bill. It’s definitely not straightforward.”

Deregulation of buses was implemented by Margaret Thatcher’s Government in October 1986 after the implementation of the Transport Act 1985.

This allowed for competition on routes, spawning a series of “bus wars”, with some operators running at a loss to force rivals out of the market.

The five main operators, among them Arriva, own around 60% of the UK’s buses and around a fifth of them are foreign-owned.

Buses account for 58% of all public transport journeys made in the UK, according to the Department for Transport’s 2019 figures.

The number of bus passenger journeys made in Wales reduced by almost 24 million between 2008 and 2019, to around 102 million.

The number of kilometres travelled by bus passengers also reduced by around 22 million to 102 million kilometres.

Around a quarter of those kilometres are on subsidised bus routes, with the rest on commercial services.

Arriva Buses is the largest operator in North Wales, with a network of smaller players servicing some of the more rural routes.

To look at filling in gaps on less profitable routes, Denbighshire council has already introduced a pilot scheme for villagers in Derwen, Melin Y Wig and Betws Gwerfil Goch.

Flexi Bus runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between the three villages and Corwen.

By Jez Hemming – Local Democracy Reporter