There’s still time to win better buses for South Yorkshire!

On Monday the 7th of June, the leaders of Sheffield City Region voted to establish a partnership with South Yorkshire’s private bus companies, propping up their power, with only vague plans to look into public control in the future.

Partnerships leave the likes of Stagecoach and First in the driving seat, letting them dictate the prices, routes, and standards of our buses. Put simply, a partnership can’t deliver the radical change we urgently need: cheaper fares for all, expanded routes, and reliable services.

Dan Jarvis claims the partnership is just an “interim arrangement.” Then he needs to prove it to us! Ask the Mayor to commit to the official public control process NOW, so we can leave the partnership behind ASAP.

Mayor Dan Jarvis MP

Mayor Ros Jones

Cllr Chris Read

Cllr Terry Fox

Cllr Stephen Houghton

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I am writing to you to convey my deep concern about your decision to set up a partnership scheme with South Yorkshire’s private bus operators, without also issuing a notice of intent to prepare an assessment of public control. I hope you will reconsider this decision, call an extraordinary meeting of the Sheffield City Region Combined Authority, and vote to release both notices of intent. The proposed partnership scheme will just prop up the same deregulated system that has caused the constant decline of my bus network. Many of the improvements that I need to see, if I am to experience the “<a href="https://sheffieldcityregion.org.uk/mayor-dan-jarvis-sets-out-plans-to-improve-bus-services/">transformation of our buses</a>” you claim to be seeking, are only legal under public control: the removal of single operator tickets, effective and intelligent cross-subsidy, and cheaper fares for all. Any benefits that might come through a partnership can be <a href="https://www.centreforcities.org/reader/improving-urban-bus-services/how-franchising-enables-mayors-to-deliver-a-high-quality-bus-service/">prevented by any operator running just a quarter of local services</a>! I understand that you view a partnership as “<a href="https://sheffieldcityregion.org.uk/mayor-dan-jarvis-sets-out-plans-to-improve-bus-services/">an interim arrangement,</a>” and that you believe you are taking the only pathway to secure Government funding. However, to secure future funding you do not need to commit to a partnership at all, as highlighted recently by the <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-05-24/6356">Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport</a>. If you view a partnership as an interim measure, the only logical next step is to pursue public control actively in the meantime. The Government made it abundantly clear in its <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bus-service-improvement-plan">most recent guidance</a> that those who wish to investigate public control, but chose to deliver a transition partnership, can (and should) release both notices of intent. The choice seems clear, either stop calling this a temporary arrangement or show how you will attempt to ensure this is the case. To release a notice of intent does not require you to know what your franchising scheme would look like (after all this is the point of the assessment).  It doesn't even require you to have secured the funding for your franchising assessment! It simply indicates to operators, Government, and the public that you want to begin the process. After years of Sheffield City Region saying this, I want to see real action. You share your plans to invest £6m in extending concessionary fares for young people in the same breath as claiming you cannot invest in a franchising assessment. What good is a cheap fare if there are no buses to use it on? Only public control will stop the withering away of our network. The M62 Mayors are delivering for their regions. Manchester has completed its assessment and Liverpool is well on its way. Even West Yorkshire, which has had a Mayor for less than two months, looks <a href="https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/all-news-and-blogs/tracy-brabin-welcomes-postponement-of-bus-fare-increases-in-south-yorkshire/">set to start the official investigation</a>! I don’t want South Yorkshire to be left behind yet again. You say no one should doubt your ambition for South Yorkshire’s buses, but actions speak louder than words. I want public control for myself, my family, and my community and you have promised to look into this. Prove to me you mean business and commit to investigating public control! I simply cannot afford to be stuck with private operators in charge. I call on you to demonstrate your conviction and release both notices of intent, for public control as well as partnerships, before the end of June. Nothing less will do.

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