Proposer – Councillor Kitching
Seconder – Councillor Fielding
That this Council:
a) agrees with the former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Prof. Philip Alston, that access to affordable and reliable transport is fundamental to guaranteeing Barnsley residents the quality of life they deserve and that “abandoning people to the private market” by deregulating bus services “is incompatible with human rights requirements.”;
(b) notes that since 2014 the South Yorkshire bus network has been reduced by over 12 million kilometres, forcing many Barnsley residents to travel by car or – if car travel is not an option - cutting them off from education, employment, family and friends;
(c) understands that we are living through a cost-of-living crisis and that since buses were deregulated in 1986 bus fares have more than doubled in real terms, while motoring costs have decreased, and that transport costs are the largest expenditure of the average household budget;
(d) notes that we are living through a climate emergency and that in South Yorkshire one-third of our local emissions come from transport with 71% of journeys to work made by car while bus passenger journeys declined by over 20% between 2009/10 and 2018/19;
(e) acknowledges that the current bus driver shortage has revealed the long-term exploitation of our drivers - who are expected to work long shifts, with few facilities and little support, for wages that are decreasing in real-terms - and believes that public control would allow us to guarantee the conditions needed to deliver a world-class service;
(f) understands that the Government's impact assessment of the Bus Service Act (2017) highlighted that public control would better address six out of seven Local Transport Authority objectives compared to an enhanced partnership and was the only method likely to deliver a “significant increase in patronage.”;
(g) understands that the South Yorkshire Combined Authority intends to establish an Enhanced Partnership with bus operators, leaving final say over the network in their hands, despite the evidence that, according to the Centre for Cities, partnerships are a “fudge which stops mayors from delivering the quality bus networks their electorate rightly expect” while a former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty called for them to be “phased out.”;
(h) welcomes the recommendations of the “South Yorkshire Bus Review,” published in June 2020, that the “legal and financial investigation of franchising in South Yorkshire begin immediately” and that “a decision be made no later than 3 years after publication of this report.”;
(i) notes that a legal and financial investigation, as outlined in the Bus Services Act 2017 and National Bus Strategy has not yet been launched and requires the release of a statutory “notice of intent to prepare a franchising assessment.”;
Therefore this Council requests that the Administration:-
(i) informs the South Yorkshire Combined Authority of its support for conducting a statutory assessment of franchising.
(ii) requests a Combined Authority vote to release a “notice of intent to prepare a franchising assessment” within 6 months.
Minutes:
The following Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order No 6 was:
Moved by Councillor Kitching – Seconded by Councillor Fielding;
That this Council:
(a) agrees with the former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Prof. Philip Alston, that access to affordable and reliable transport is fundamental to guaranteeing Barnsley residents the quality of life they deserve and that “abandoning people to the private market” by deregulating bus services “is incompatible with human rights requirements.”;
(b) notes that since 2014 the South Yorkshire bus network has been reduced by over 12 million kilometres, forcing many Barnsley residents to travel by car or – if car travel is not an option - cutting them off from education, employment, family and friends;
(c) understands that we are living through a cost-of-living crisis and that since buses were deregulated in 1986 bus fares have more than doubled in real terms, while motoring costs have decreased, and that transport costs are the largest expenditure of the average household budget;
(d) notes that we are living through a climate emergency and that in South Yorkshire one-third of our local emissions come from transport with 71% of journeys to work made by car while bus passenger journeys declined by over 20% between 2009/10 and 2018/19;
(e) acknowledges that the current bus driver shortage has revealed the long-term exploitation of our drivers - who are expected to work long shifts, with few facilities and little support, for wages that are decreasing in real-terms - and believes that public control would allow us to guarantee the conditions needed to deliver a world-class service;
(f) understands that the Government's impact assessment of the Bus Service Act (2017) highlighted that public control would better address six out of seven Local Transport Authority objectives compared to an enhanced partnership and was the only method likely to deliver a “significant increase in patronage.”;
(g) understands that the South Yorkshire Combined Authority intends to establish an Enhanced Partnership with bus operators, leaving final say over the network in their hands, despite the evidence that, according to the Centre for Cities, partnerships are a “fudge which stops mayors from delivering the quality bus networks their electorate rightly expect” while a former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty called for them to be “phased out.”;
(h) welcomes the recommendations of the “South Yorkshire Bus Review,” published in June 2020, that the “legal and financial investigation of franchising in South Yorkshire begin immediately” and that “a decision be made no later than 3 years after publication of this report.”;
(i) notes that a legal and financial investigation, as outlined in the Bus Services Act 2017 and National Bus Strategy has not yet been launched and requires the release of a statutory “notice of intent to prepare a franchising assessment.”;
Therefore this Council requests that the Administration:-
(i) informs the South Yorkshire Combined Authority of its support for conducting a statutory assessment of franchising.
(ii) requests a Combined Authority vote to release a “notice of intent to prepare a franchising assessment” within 6 months.
An Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order No 8 was then:
Moved by Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE – Seconded by Councillor Andrews BEM;
Items (a) – (i) as per the original Motion
Therefore this Council requests that the Administration:-
(i) & (ii) – as per the original Motion
Add the following:
(ii) recommendations (i) & (ii) (above) only to be implemented once the financial implications become clearer and their impact on the Council’s finances and on taxpayers is considered to be reasonable
As the meeting had been ongoing for three hours, the maximum permitted in accordance with Standing Orders, the Mayor, Councillor Makinson, proposed and it was unanimously:
RESOLVED that in accordance with Standing Order No 42, Standing Order No 2(2) (insofar as it relates to the time permitted for meetings) be suspended to enable the remaining business on the agenda to be transacted.
On being put to the vote, the Amendment was WON.
The Amendment was then put as the Substantive Motion and:
Moved by Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE – Seconded by Councillor Andrews BEM; and
RESOLVED:
(i) that the Council inform the South Yorkshire Combined Authority of its support for conducting a statutory assessment of franchising;
(ii) that the Council requests a Combined Authority vote to release a ‘Notice of intent to prepare a franchising assessment’ within six months; and
(iii) that resolutions (i) and (ii) above only be implemented once the financial implications become clearer and their impact on the Council’s finances and on taxpayers is considered to be reasonable.