Last night, I spoke in the debate on the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on behalf of the Opposition.
Labour wants to replicate the bus franchise experiment of Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, yet a look at the figures uncovers huge waste and cost overruns: an unplanned loss of a staggering £226m this year alone whilst underperforming other areas in ridership growth.
This Bill encourages local authorities to take huge commercial risks in areas where they have no experience. It is setting them up to fail whilst removing central oversight and support.
There is no content in this Bill on funding for councils to franchise, rendering it meaningless
The Government needs to make sensible improvements to the Bill to fix these problems. We have them ready so they don't even need to think of them themselves!
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/088b3ce8-9e61-44f6-87c8-568a262982da?in=21:38:03
