McGill’s Group owners James and Sandy Easdale have once again questioned the economic viability of bus franchising plans by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), claiming that the net cost of Bee Network bus services in Greater Manchester “should be a deafening alarm bell for Scottish politicians blindly marching towards the same financial catastrophe.”
Transport revenue budget papers issued by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in February show a projected net cost of the franchised bus network there during FY2025/26 of ÂŁ226 million.
McGill’s has repeatedly claimed that sustaining the same exercise in Strathclyde would cost £400 million per year. SPT believes that sum would instead be up to £85 million.
The Easdale brothers argue that the figure from Greater Manchester “proves beyond doubt” that McGill’s calculation is correct. Sandy Easdale says that a more spread-out population in Strathclyde would lead to a higher cost than for the Bee Network.
He has also again turned his ire to Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who in 2024 visited Scotland and promoted bus franchising. Mr Burnham’s office has previously clashed with the Easdales, with the brothers in 2023 having been accused by that entity of ignoring or failing to understand some benefits of reregulation.
Accusing Mr Burnham of having “swaggered up here,” Sandy Easdale says that he did not mention the “colossal £226 million annual price tag dumped on taxpayers in Greater Manchester – all because he wants to tighten his grip on public transport.”
That figure covers FY2025/26. It will require Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to use ÂŁ30.6 million of reserves to balance its budget. Limited draw on reserves is also expected in FY2026/27.
Beyond that, GMCA has forecast that TfGM reserves will recover as patronage and revenue continue to build and an integrated funding settlement “provides the financial flexibility to more easily reach a balanced position with recurring sources of funding.”
Nevertheless, Mr Easdale says that “no politician – not one councillor, MSP or [Scottish] government minister – can now claim ignorance over the true cost of this madness.”
James Easdale highlights comments by Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen describing bus franchising as a gamble with taxpayers’ money. “It is about time some common sense emerged before Scotland sleepwalks into yet another financial disaster,” he continues.
The TfGM transport budget papers note that “ongoing and increasing” central government funding will be required to keep improving public transport in Greater Manchester, with the Bus Service Improvement Plan mechanism suggested as one such stream.
SPT has previously said that a multi-year commitment from the Scottish Government to fund bus services in Strathclyde would be needed to deliver its franchising vision.
