SNP Government 'Sleepwalking Into Yet Another Financial Disaster' As Manchester £226m Bill Comparison Made
James and Sandy Easdale
McGills owners the Easdales brothers blasted Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham for boasting about the performance of his franchised bus services which cost taxpayers £226m a year.
The Scottish Government has been warned about "sleepwalking into yet another financial disaster" due to long-disputed plans to nationalise bus services in Glasgow. SNP Ministers have given local authorities the power to bring bus companies under public ownership.
None have yet to follow Edinburgh's lead and do so, although Glasgow's transport body is considering plans to do so. The issue is that there are a number of operators who work throughout Strathclyde, including First Bus and McGills, with the latter speaking out strongly against this.
Owners, Sandy and James Easdale, have claimed that nationalising bus services across the central belt would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions and wouldn't be value for money. They compared the situation to Manchester, where bus franchising costs the public purse about £226m annually.
Bus services in the England city have also been slammed by customers who have ranked them in 36th place out of 39 operators in England, with McGills claiming that Strathclyde services were ranked the best in Scotland and would be in the top 10 in England due to a customer satisfaction rating of 88%.
Budget papers from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority highlighted the £226m cost of running Bee Network, which was the brainchild of Labour Mayor Andy Burnham. He clashed with the Easdales when he visited Scotland last year and hailed his scheme as a "better deal for the public."
The entrepreneurs undertook their own analysis on the costs of similar franchising in Glasgow and claimed it would hammer taxpayers for an additional £400 million every single year, while delivering a worse service. Sandy Easdale said: "It’s been less than six months since Andy Burnham swaggered up here, claiming he was the all-knowing bus guru who could help bring franchising to Strathclyde.
“But what he conveniently failed to mention was the colossal £226 million annual price tag dumped on taxpayers in Greater Manchester – all because he wants to tighten his grip on public transport.
“No politician – not one councillor, MSP, or government minister – can now claim ignorance over the true cost of this madness. And it will be even worse in Strathclyde, where the population is more spread out and the financial burden even greater.
“The expert analysis we commissioned puts the real cost at £400 million per year, and if our so-called leaders push ahead knowing this, it will join Scotland’s ever-growing list of political disasters – from the ferry fiasco to the shambolic deposit return scheme and the outrageous malicious prosecutions scandal.”
His brother James highlighted that the government have wasted cash when nationalising institutes such as ScotRail which has "haemorrhaged an extra £600 million in just two years." He went on: “SPT should hang its head in shame for trying to hoodwink the public with their vague nonsense about world class changes.
"The latest national bus passenger survey shows that while Burnham’s grand experiment has left Greater Manchester with a 79% satisfaction rating, Strathclyde – where private operators still run services – enjoys a far higher 88% satisfaction rate.
“The reality is clear – this isn’t about improving services; it’s about politicians, egged on by loony activists, grabbing power.
"Instead of finding ever more absurd ways to waste public money year after year, perhaps they should focus on encouraging economic growth and making the country and its citizens more prosperous rather than poorer.
“In recent weeks, we’ve seen Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen flat-out reject bus franchising, calling it ‘gambling with taxpayers’ money on a vague, unworkable idea.’
“It’s about time some common sense emerged before Scotland sleepwalks into yet another financial disaster.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Over the last 5 years, McGill’s have received almost £213 million in public funding, with over £134.9 million from reimbursement for carrying concessionary passengers through the National Concessionary Travel Schemes, £59.2 million to support bus services, and £18.6 million in capital funding to support purchase of electric vehicles.
“We have now delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to enable local transport authorities to consider all the powers available to them, including partnership working, franchising and local authority run services which sit alongside their ability to subsidise services.
“The bus provisions in the 2019 Act empower local transport authorities with the flexible tools they need to respond to their own transport challenges."
An SPT spokeswoman said: “SPT’s draft Strathclyde Regional Bus Strategy (SRBS) is currently out for public consultation. The draft strategy describes the bus network that is needed to improve buses for existing passengers, make them more attractive to new users, and ensure buses are providing essential access for everyone who relies on them. To deliver the strategy, SPT is proposing to develop bus franchising arrangements for the region.
“The consultation is open until 29 May to give everyone, including bus operators, the opportunity to feedback on the proposals. Visit SPT’s website and social media channels to find out more, or visit: https://bit.ly/3PPerXr ”
This article appeared in the Daily Express.