West Yorkshire buses: London-style franchising could cost £100m in set up costs alone, new research finds

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin wants to take back control with a ‘London-style franchising’ model but the bus operators say there’s a better way that doesn’t transfer all the financial risk to taxpayers.

As a public consultation on the future operation of West Yorkshire’s bus services comes to a close this weekend, the bus companies have published the results of a survey which they say supports their ‘Enhanced Partnership Plus’ model.

The companies say two-thirds of those surveyed think the financial risk should remain with bus operators and not transfer to taxpayers, which would be the situation under the Mayor’s proposed franchising.

Andrew Cullen, Managing Director of First Bus in North & West Yorkshire, said on behalf of bus operators in the region: “These results deliver an overwhelming message that the public agrees with operators: Enhanced Partnership Plus, whereby we all work more closely with the Combined Authority, is what people want for West Yorkshire.

“We agree with the Mayor that bus reform is needed, but strongly believe there is a better alternative to franchising by choosing Enhanced Partnership Plus, an option which is truly unique to the needs of West Yorkshire.

“This bespoke solution delivers bus reform more quickly, at less cost and with significantly less risk to the public purse, at a time when local authority budgets are increasingly under pressure.”

The poll of more than 1,000 people from across the region found that twice as many people want to see improved services from 2024 (60%) as opposed to 2026 (30%) at the earliest under franchising.

Research also found that more than half of respondents who had an opinion on bus reform felt that operators, with greater oversight from a public body, were best placed to run services (53%) as opposed to the Mayor and her team at the Combined Authority (38%).

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority spokesperson said: “Our public consultation into bus reform is still ongoing, and no decision has yet been made.

“We are actively seeking views from a range of people and organisations, including bus operators, about how our proposals – for both franchising and the enhanced partnership plus – could impact them.”