Locally in Warrington we have, what is now a rarity, something most town's had but now very few still do. Our local buses are still publicly owned and run by the local council. Over the years the network has had it's ups and downs, including the 'Bus Wars' of the 90's. however lately it appears to have had far more downs than ups.
Bail-Out
Last month it became clear that Network Warrington (by which name the bus company goes) was being bailed out by us, the council tax payers to a substantial six figure tune. It was published in the local press that the Councillors discussed the move behind closed doors in the Town Hall and the actual sum of the loan has been kept secret.
!!! How very undemocratic of our elected representatives !!!
The council say the matter included commercially sensitive material which could not be discussed in public. This is political speak for "if the public found out the true details, there would be a public outcry and we'd be voted out next election". So much for transparent local government. It's good of the councillors to consider the electorate, after all we wouldn't want to be worried about how our council taxes are spent, would we?
One local councillor came out with the line "Most bus companies are seeing passenger numbers dropping off a cliff and are going through difficult times. We value a municipal service and we are helping them out". So what they're saying is that in order to keep it 'municipal' our council tax money will be thrown off the proverbial cliff with the passenger numbers.
This secret, internal 'deal' that's been done is in addition to the Council already having taken over the deficit of Network Warrington's pension scheme a few years ago.
How did it end up this way ?
Yes, the current economic climate is difficult to operate in with rising fuel costs and the reduction in recompense for concessionary bus pass holders. But these aren't the only reasons.
In recent years, there have been a number of senior management changes within Network Warrington. Unfortunately, these changes seem to have been for the worse and it is now reflecting in the business itself. I believe the current management have overstretched themselves over the past few years by spending excessive amounts of money where it wasn't necessary and by restructuring the management in a way that wasn't beneficial to the business.
Warrington Council hasn't particularly helped Network Warrington. The Council manages the bus station where screens are often wrong and there are three different times displayed depending which clock you look at, misleading at best. The Council can't even put bus stops on both sides of the road in some areas simply putting a sticker on the opposite one saying both sides, or not bothering at all leaving people to guess where is safe and proper to wait. The Council hasn't made it easy by letting tenders for school contracts to other companies. On top of all this, buses are often dirty; Sunday evening services were recently withdrawn; need I go on ?
So Keep or Sell ?
Bearing in mind, Warrington Council recently agreed it's own budget for 2013 which included cuts of £15 Million can we really maintain the folly of owning our own bus company just to keep it 'municipal' and in the hope it might be profitable again one day ?
My answer is a firm 'NO'. The £15 Million cut in Council spending must be negated by selling off Network Warrington to the private sector as almost every other local authority has already done.
Why should the people of Warrington continue to pour money down the drain carrying the burden and all the associated risks of running a bus company. Now is the time to cut our losses, we should sell Network Warrington off to the highest bidder. Monies received should then be re-invested in the very real and necessary front-line services that are now being cut to pay for the buses.
Is It Worth £15 Million and will it sell ?
Probably. Earlier in the year, Stagecoach purchased First Buses Wigan operation for £12 Million. This included staff, a depot, bus station and 120 Buses. Network Warrington is slightly larger than this and has a much more modern fleet of vehicles than First had at Wigan. Network Warrington also has a far larger network allowing any operator that takes it over to grow into other parts of Cheshire. So 'YES' £15 Million should be easily achievable.
Will it sell? Well going off the amount of buying and selling deals being done amongst bus companies in the last six months, I'd say 'yes' it would sell quite easily. My preference would be to a business like Stagecoach who appear to continually invest heavily in new vehicles and have high standards of customer service.
Selling benefits all Warrington people
Take a look at a bus going past and count the passengers, usually you won't need more than two hands and there we have the very reason as to why our Council Tax shouldn't be used to bail out a failed business.
Let the private sector take on the financial risk and let us spend the money we make on things that'll benefit ALL Warrington people not just the 10 people (or less) on the bus that just went past.
No comments:
Post a Comment