Agenda item

Briefing note of the Director of City Services and Commercial

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a briefing note and presentation of the Director of City Services and Commercial that provided background information on Transport for West Midlands’ (TfWM) proposal to introduce a Franchising system for bus services across the region. It followed a briefing session held on 3^rd February 2025 for all Members of the Council with TfWM. Appendices to the briefing note detailed General Franchising FAQ’s and Stakeholder FAQ’s. The Director of Integrated Transport Services, the Head of Network Transformation and Member Relationship Manager, from TfWM attended the meeting for this item.

TfWM was the Local Transport Authority for the West Midlands, with overall responsibility for the bus network across the region. However, the services themselves were run by commercial operators from the private sector, with National Express being by far the largest operator in the region. At present, the West Midlands had a ‘deregulated’ bus network. This meant that where services were run on a commercial basis, it was the operators themselves (rather than TfWM) who were responsible for determining routes, timetables and quality standards.

TfWM was currently carrying out a public consultation on proposals to introduce Bus Franchising across the region. Under a Franchising system, it would be TfWM who planned the network and then awarded contracts to bus operators, paying them to run services. The public consultation opened on 6 January 2025 and runs until 30 March 2025. Coventry City Council was a statutory consultee and Council officers would be preparing a corporate response to the consultation. TfWM were also seeking responses from residents. The Councils’ Communications Team was engaged and was sharing the consultation materials with residents. Details of the consultation were available via TfWM’s website at https://www.tfwm.org.uk/consultations/bus-reform/. The consultation materials included more detailed explanations of what franchising would entail, how much it would cost, what TfWM expected the benefits to be, and how and when it would be implemented, as well as how to respond to the consultation. A seminar for all Members was held on these elements of the consultation on 3 February 2025.

The West Midlands Combined Authority expected to make a final decision on whether or not to implement Franchising in May 2025, following completion of the consultation. If approved, bus services in Coventry would be franchised in 2027.

TfWM had carried out a Health and Equity Assessment of the proposal to proceed with Franchising. The assessment had been published as part of the consultation materials and was available at: https://www.tfwm.org.uk/media/ sajdpzou/health-and-equity-impact-assessment-west-midlands-bus-franchising-assessment.pdf

In considering the briefing note and a presentation by officers, the Board asked questions and received responses on matters in the following areas:

·  Funding – TfWM received Levi funding that supported regional transport, along with Government funding to support revenue, and Bus Service Improvement Plan funding via some repurposed funding

·  Check and balances on contract delivery – financial diligence tried and tested processes in place, and appropriate mitigations would be put in place for risk issues

·  Standards would be applied (national agency standards) to meet local requirements

·  One point of contact to report issues – appropriate standards will be put in place to support members of the public

·  Consultation responses - compared/benchmarked against other Local Authorities for percentage of participants expected

·  Single point of payment and a single suite of tickets across all bus operators/transport modes was proposed – it was hoped that these would be operable between buses, trains, and trams in the long-term

·  Cheap, clean reliable services would encourage bus use

·  Further consultation required at the relevant time, for passenger requirements on frequency or service, fares, security, especially for evening and early morning buses/bus shelters, provision for schools, provision for places of public interest, provision for rural areas, cleanliness, ticketing options, and options for disability.

·  Bus pass validity of passengers who used mobility scooters, for use outside of the West Midlands Region – discretionary passes should be recognised nationally

·  Consultation would be undertaken for the designs for new buses

·  Case for change – part of the strategic case - franchising woud afford the opportunity to look at what modes of transport was best for each circumstance/what core bus service were to be maintained

·  Franchising was a very regulated system/process – the network assessment and review would be undertaken separately

·  Options for communicating the consultation – Included peer to peer communication, a 9 Question online survey, a 43 Question online survey, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, Local Radio and TV. There has also been engagement with schools

·  Contract lengths were 5-7 years and could be developed, changed, and services altered during contracts

·  Appropriate performance standards would be applied for operation – would engage with the market to ensure appropriate recognition and rewards 

·  On-demand services – consider expanding services to more rural locations

·  Consider raising awareness of bus options through a stand at the Godiva Festival

·  Other modes of transport should be assessed, through the Bus Reform Panel, that could help improve the whole transport system for users, these were, but not limited to, TukTuk, small electrical vehicles for up to six people, and small road-based trains

·  There would be no shortage of operators interested in the bus operation contracts

·  Depots and buses need to be migrated into ownership of the Authority. Electric buses were leased but would be transferred across to the Authority if the move to a franchise model was implemented

·  Costs associated with asset value completed although not part of franchising - £22.5m was new costs associated to moving to a franchising model

The Board sought and received assurance from TfWM officers on the following matters and asked that these be included in the feedback on the proposals, to be considered as part of the consultation process:

1)  The best value and best service design be sought with an assessment of other methods of transport and citizens' requirements, before the designing and signing of the Franchise Contract.

2)  Further consultation be launched at the appropriate time on citizen requirements such as frequency, cost, security, provision of security late at night and very early morning (buses and bus shelters), coverage of schools and other places of public interest, coverage of rural areas, cleanliness, and ticketing options, and options for disability.

3)  An assessment of other modes of transport that could help improve the whole transport system for users be undertaken before the franchise contract's final design and signing. These were, but not limited to, TukTuk, small electrical vehicles for up to six people, small road-based trains as used in Eastbourne called Dotto, and much more.

4)  Further consultation be undertaken with the Local Authority on the operational assessment of the Network, subject to the WMCA Mayor’s consideration of the franchising of the buses.

5)  Investigations be undertaken into the bus pass validity of passengers who use mobility scooters, for use outside of the West Midlands Region

6)  Consideration be given to raising awareness of bus options through a) a stand at the Godiva Festival, and b) local radio and tv stations

Members felt that it was important to acknowledge that public finance would be tight for the foreseeable future. In order to obtain the best value and a more sustainable transport system for the future, it was important all these matters were assessed to deliver a meaningful and worthy change for West Midlands citizens.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3):

1)  Supports the proposals to introduce Franchising for bus services in the West Midlands.

2)  Requests that the feedback outlined be submitted to TfWM officers on the franchising for bus services proposals, to be considered as part of the consultation process.