The fight for public ownership of buses continues

We Own It are campaigning to get the government to drop the part of the Bus Services Bill that will effectively ban local authorities from setting up bus companies to provide bus services. For us, this makes no sense whatsoever. 

The authority-owned bus companies out there, like Reading and Nottingham, provide some of the very best services in the country. They invest, they make their buses greener, and they listen to passengers. Often, these providers win Bus Operator of the Year at the UK Bus Awards. Why stop other local authorities following their lead?

The Bus Services Bill, and the clause – clause 21 - that we want dropped, were debated at the House of Lords on Wednesday (20th July).

The good news is that many of the Lords are on our side on this. Baroness Randerson and Lord Kennedy of Southwark tabled an amendment to have Clause 21 taken out, and they, along with Lord Whitty, should be applauded for leading the opposition to this part of the Bill.

"This is a nasty, mean-minded little clause. It is totally at odds…with the rest of the Bill, which is supposed to be devolving power to local authorities."  Baroness Randerson

“I am clear that the clause does not belong in this Bill. It does nothing whatever to improve bus services for people—rather, it is merely a piece of ​political dogma from the Conservative Party…. This clause goes too far.”  Lord Kennedy of Southwark

"This clause sticks out like a sore thumb and goes against the rest of the Bill and any commitment to localism."  Lord Whitty

Aside from the political nature of clause 21, the Lords were also quick to point out that many authorities already provide high quality bus services, and questioned what would happen if there was a crisis and councils had to step in.

Unfortunately, the amendment to have Clause 21 dropped was not passed. The government are insisting that local authorities can be commissioners, but not providers, of bus services.

So what happens next?

Unlike many pieces of legislation, this one originates in the Lords – so it will go to the House of Commons after the Lords – the other way around to usual.

Before that happens there will be a report written by the Lords. Judging from the debate on Wednesday Clause 21 will be a huge bone of contention in this report. In addition, the Transport Select Committee in the Commons have also announced an inquiry into the Bus Services Bill. So we’ll be working to do what we can to influence their report and stand up for service users who want this option open.

If you haven’t already, then sign our petition to stop Clause 21, and help us get the word out there about this ‘nasty’ little clause.

Almost everyone we speak sees that Clause 21 is completely unnecessary – there’s no reason to think local authority owned companies couldn’t provide just as good a service as private providers - and the evidence confirms this. In fact, as Reading and Nottingham show, often they provide the very best services!

What’s more there’s the wider case that across the board remunicipalisation could save us £506m – realising these savings will be impossible if this clause is kept in the final piece of legislation. That, and the fact that it lacks any evidence base at all, is why we need to defeat clause 21.