Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee.

The report details the review carried out by the Corporate, Resource Management and Governance Scrutiny Review Panel into the Financial Impact of Bus Franchising and the proposed recommendations.

That the Deputy Chief Executive be requested to prepare a response to the Financial Impact of Bus Franchising scrutiny review and the recommendations contained therein for consideration by the Cabinet at a future meeting

Officer contact: Michael Cullen on 0161 474 4631 or email michael.cullen@stockport.gov.uk

Councillor Jeremy Meal attended the meeting to present the final report of the Scrutiny Review ‘Financial Impact of Bus Franchising’ (copies of which had been circulated) and to answer questions from the Cabinet.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         It was noted that the reduction in fares for bus services was currently underpinned by non-recurrent funding and that patronage had only recovered to around 85% of pre-covid levels.

·         There would be a further review of the potential of ‘over-bussing’ of some services following the introduction of further tranches of bus franchising.

·         It needed to be considered that diverting funding from the Bus Service Improvement Plan to fund fare reductions was not allowing those funds to be used to put money into new services.

RESOLVED - (1) That the Deputy Chief Executive be requested to prepare a response to the Financial Impact of Bus Franchising scrutiny review and the recommendations contained therein for consideration by the Cabinet at a future meeting.

(2) That the gratitude of the Cabinet be recorded for the excellent work undertaken by the Scrutiny Review Panel ‘Financial Impact of Bus Franchising’ and others involved in the Review.

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

The report details the review carried out by the Corporate, Resource Management and Governance Scrutiny Review Panel into the Financial Impact of Bus Franchising.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to request Cabinet to consider the following recommendations:

(1)  Support the establishment of a local authority level group, comprised of cross-party representation and officer support, to effectively feed into the development of the Bee Network agenda in Stockport’s interests as we prepare for the start of the south GM franchise in 2025.

(2)  Note that short and medium term financial and patronage performance indicators will be reported via a combination of GMCA financial monitoring reports and regular service delivery updates to the Bee Network committee. TfGM be requested to provide suitable information to give assurance about the resourcing of newly franchised service, such as the overall Peak Vehicle Requirement and this information should be shared with relevant committees and local authority level groups within Stockport.

(3)  An annual monitoring report be provided to CRMG Scrutiny Committee that provides assurance on the financial, quality, performance and risk management of bus franchising and transport provision funded by the transport and statutory charge.

(4)  The Cabinet alongside TfGM and the GMCA continue to lobby for a fairer transport settlement for Greater Manchester and Stockport.

Officer contact: Michael Cullen on 0161 474 4631 or email michael.cullen@stockport.gov.uk

The Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing the review carried out by the Corporate, Resource Management and Governance Scrutiny Review Panel into the Financial Impact of Bus Franchising.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Members thanked the Deputy Chief Executive for his involvement in the review, including the presentation from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) which had provided valuable insights to the Scrutiny Review Panel.

·         Members referred to the quality of performance monitoring. It was noted that pre-deregulation, the performance indicators had been impacted by inflation leading to elastic values. The Scrutiny Review Panel had requested TfGM to report on Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR), being the number of buses needed to run a peak service. This would allow Members and officers to evaluate the impact of bus franchising in the future as PVR was a good measure of what the council will get for its money, enabling a review of how network changes might impact Stockport’s residents.

RESOLVED – (1) That the draft ‘Financial Impact of Bus Franchising Review Final Report’ be approved and adopted.

(2) That the thanks of the Scrutiny Committee be extended to all those who took part in the Scrutiny Review.