Press Release: FoI Exposes the West is left to Stagnate

Freedom of Information response exposes lack of progress and momentum on Bus Franchising

23rd January 2024

The Reclaim our Buses campaign group’s recent Freedom of Information Request to Dan Norris reveals that his ‘report’ on bus franchising has no deadline, no terms of reference, and no plan for discussion with the West of England Unitary Authorities.

The FOI reveals the Mayor has failed to set a clear timeline or direction for his investigation into franchising leading campaigners to call it a red herring. 

The FOI asked for the terms if reference officers have for the report, the timelines and the date it will come to public meeting.

The FOI shows that this is "no specific timeline" or "terms of reference set by our Metro Mayor." It also confirms the “Mayor did not specifically state when a franchising paper would be submitted to committee.”

The FOI also stated that “the preparation of a report is underway but remains work in progress and is not yet finalised and subject to internal discussions and meetings”.  The Reclaim our Buses Campaign has submitted a follow up FOI requesting to know who is included in these internal discussions and meetings, to see the correspondence between the Mayor and his officers regarding the report, and the timelines for this report to be shown to WECA scrutiny committee and for publication in the public domain.

Reclaim our Buses campaigner Emilia Melville says:

“This response, which was received 3 months after Dan said he was ‘preparing a report’, shows lack of prioritisation, professionalism or progress. The ‘report’ is clearly a red herring. 

Given that the state of our buses is of great concern to residents, and given that over 3500 residents have signed the petition to take West of England buses into public control, and given that all three of the Unitary Authorities in the Combined Authority are in favour of formally investigating franchising, it is shocking that this has not yet been a formal discussion in the WECA committee agenda. 

We call on Dan Norris to put bus franchising on the agenda of the next WECA committee meeting, on Friday 26th January.  The West of England is rapidly falling behind other regions such as Manchester and West Yorkshire. The people of the West of England deserve to see a public discussion of this important matter by their representative officials in the WECA committee meeting, and to have full information about whether franchising would be the best choice for the region, which can only be achieved through a formal investigation of bus franchising.”

Izzy Russell -  Student Living Officer - University of Bristol Students’ Union said:

“As a student in Bristol, it is near impossible to rely on buses to get around. They are so unreliable - always late, cancelling last minute, expensive. This means that getting to lectures, work, sports or just meeting friends is made very difficult; we have to plan in extra time for buses to be delayed, to miss seminars or come into work late. It also makes it scarier and more difficult to get home after a night out, a situation in which women and marginalised people are already vulnerable. More and more people are relying on expensive Ubers, putting more cars on the road. The bus system in Bristol doesn’t work and we can all feel the impacts of it. Dan Norris, the Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority, needs to start showing leadership to improve our bus services by formally investigating franchising.”

The next WECA committee meeting is on Friday 26th January.  The Reclaim our Buses campaign has asked for Bus Franchising to be on the agenda. 

Notes:

Promise of a report on bus franchising by Dan Norris was published here: https://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/politics/metro-mayor-andy-burnham-bus-franchising-103600/ 

The freedom of information request response can be read in full here:  https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/terms_of_reference_for_bus_franc/response/2508803/attach/2/FOI0401.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1 

Reclaim our Buses campaign has submitted a follow up freedom of information request: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/weca_correspondence_re_bus_franc 

The petition calling for public control of buses is here https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/take-west-of-england-buses-into-public-control 

Details of WECA committee meetings can be found here:  https://westofengland-ca.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=614&Ver=4 

And here: https://westofengland-ca.moderngov.co.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=141&Year=0