Bus operators in Manchester are justifiably angry at the proposals to bring in a franchising regime, but the news is no surprise
Stagecoach and, indeed, all bus operators in Greater Manchester have lashed out with predictable anger at the announcement from Andy Burnham, Manchester’s Mayor, that Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has recommended adopting a franchise model for the future of its bus network.
Nobody should be surprised by this.
After all, when the devolution agreement between the government and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was signed way back on 3 November 2014, the Authority made it clear that franchising was a necessary prerequisite for a devolution deal – a deal breaker.
What’s surprising is that it has taken TfGM so long to get to this point.
Sympathy with shouts
Normally I’m against companies publicly shouting at politicians.
It tends to upset them and back them into a corner, making it more likely, not less, that they will go down the policy route that the companies are shouting against. It’s the first law of politics.
And Stagecoach should know this more than most as the company does quite a lot of shouting to not much, if any, effect.
But on this occasion I have some sympathy with the shouting – and it’s all 15 operators in Greater Manchester that are up in arms at the franchising proposals, not just Stagecoach.
That’s no surprise, as when TfGM proceeds with the procurement process to award franchises, some existing operators will almost certainly lose out and go out of business.
A done deal
And I’m sympathetic to the message the operators are putting out – that this is largely a politically motivated decision, with as yet no evidence made available to justify or explain it.
It must be political, because the Combined Authority made it a pre-condition of the devolution deal that franchising was part of its terms and conditions.
Why make it a pre-condition unless the politicians had already decided that franchising was what they wanted?
Where is it?
These proposals are an integral part of a 10-year transport plan called ‘Our Network’.
So I went on the TfGM website to find this plan and see what the explanation was as to why franchising was the right way forward. But sadly I couldn’t find it.
No information as to why franchising will work better than the current deregulated model and, critically, no information on what it will cost or what the financial risk exposure for TfGM, and therefore the local taxpayers of Greater Manchester, will be.
TfGM still have to undertake a public consultation after, and if, an independent financial audit clears the proposals. I hope that the public consultation will provide local taxpayers and bus users with clear, unbiased, details as to the merits and costs of these proposals.
But for now, having announced that franchising is the preferred way forward, I’m just suspicious at the lack of information.
The reaction from the bus operators is understandable. Their message is right. Their methodology is wrong. Don’t shout at politicians.
