Agenda item

To receive an update on the development of the Enhanced Bus Partnership; and to request delegated authority be given to the Deputy Mayor to approve the Enhanced Partnership consultation documents and thereafter in consultation with appropriate Directors to agree the Enhanced Bus Partnership on behalf of the Authority.

Cabinet received an update report on the Bus Partnership and to seek delegated authority for the Deputy Mayor, and the Director of Law and Governance, in consultation with appropriate Directors, to agree the Enhanced Partnership (EP) consultation documents, and thereafter to agree the Enhanced Partnership on behalf of the Authority.

There were approximately 5.9 million miles of bus journeys made within North Tyneside in 2018/19. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, buses had continued to provide a vital service, however passenger numbers remained lower than before.

The Local Plan and the North Tyneside Transport Strategy stated that the Authority would work with partners to support bus provision as part of an integrated public transport network. As a low-carbon form of transport, bus services were also a vital part of realising the aims of the Authority’s Climate Emergency Action Plan. The regional North East Transport Plan also aimed to improve bus travel and attract more passengers.

The Government announced in March 2021 that ongoing funding for bus services would be dependent on authorities’ and bus operators’ participation in new arrangements. The National Bus Strategy, ‘Bus Back Better’, set out a more formal framework for partnership working between authorities and bus operators and instructed each area to implement a statutory EP under the Transport Act 2000 (as amended by the Bus Services Act 2017). Entering into an EP was a requirement in order to receive ongoing Government funding for bus services.

As part of the process set out in the National Bus Strategy, each area was also required to develop a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).

The Authority was represented on the Joint Transport Committee (JTC) by the Elected Mayor as the designated member and the Deputy Mayor as the designated substitute member.

Reflecting the national guidance, in June 2021 the JTC agreed to notify the Government of its intention to proceed with an EP.  In July 2021 the JTC approved a process of public engagement, which was carried out by Transport North East over the Summer and branded as the ‘Big Bus Conversation’. Factors which respondents identified as barriers to using the bus more often included the level of fares; bus service punctuality and reliability; buses being seen as slow; buses not necessarily going where people needed them to; and vehicle cleanliness and maintenance in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This informed the development of the North East BSIP, which was approved by the JTC and submitted to the Department for Transport by the deadline of 31 October 2021. The BSIP set out a far-reaching programme of potential measures to improve bus services in the North East, and made an ambitious request for Government funding of £804m to deliver the measures over three financial years from 2022/23 to 2024/25. A Government announcement was awaited on the level of funding which would be provided to the region.

An EP Plan and Scheme(s) were currently being developed in accordance with Government guidance. These would first be subject to a period of bus industry stakeholder engagement, known as the ‘Operator Objection Mechanism’.  Following this, a period of statutory consultation was required: this was currently intended to commence on 13 January 2022. Government funding timescales then required the EP to be in place by 1 April 2022.

At its meeting of 20 September 2021, Cabinet agreed fully to support and endorse the establishment of an Enhanced Partnership for bus services in the North East.

The JTC discharged certain local transport authority functions on behalf of the two combined authorities, and was responsible for the preparation of the statutory transport plan and had various responsibilities with respect to public transport.  However, aspects of the EP Plan and Scheme(s) would relate to powers held by the Authority, as the highway authority for the borough, such as the delivery of measures on the highway which required a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).  It was therefore important for the Authority, as the highway authority for the borough, to have a full understanding of the requirements of the EP Plan and Scheme(s) as they related to highway authority powers. Once the EP took effect, there would be an obligation on the Authority to implement facilities and measures in accordance with the identified EP Scheme(s).

An EP was a statutory partnership between a local transport authority and local bus operators, which set out how they would work together to deliver the outcomes identified in the BSIP. It consisted of two parts: an EP Plan and one or more EP Schemes. Government guidance advised that an EP Plan should state a clear vision of the improvements to bus services which the EP aimed to deliver, consistent with the BSIP: it should summarise the evidence base; what outcomes needed to be delivered to improve local bus services in the area; and what overall interventions the partnership believed should be taken to deliver those outcomes.

An EP scheme should set out the precise detail of how the BSIP vision and objectives will be achieved, including any commitments made by authorities or standards to be met by bus operators, and detail the specific interventions that will be made. It sets out the legal obligations on the relevant authorities and bus operators and is the mechanism by which the commitments made in the BSIP and the EP Plan are delivered.

The main next steps in the process (including indicative dates) were detailed in the report.

Cabinet considered the following decision options: to either approve the recommendations as set out in section 1.2 of the report, or alternatively, to not approve the recommendations.

Resolved that (1)the Deputy Mayor, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, the Director of Regeneration and Economic Development, the Director of Environment, Housing and Leisure, the Director of Law and Governance and the Director of Resources, be authorised to agree the draft Enhanced Bus Partnership’s Plan and Scheme(s) insofar as they relate to the Authority’s highway authority functions which are to be the subject of a statutory consultation in accordance with the requirements of the Transport Act 2000;

(2) the Deputy Mayor, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, the Director of Regeneration and Economic Development, the Director of Environment, Housing and Leisure, the Director of Law and Governance, be authorised to agree on behalf of the Authority to any amendments to the Enhanced Bus Partnership’s Plan and Scheme(s) arising from the consultation; and

(3) the Director of Law and Governance, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, the Director of Regeneration and Economic Development, the Director of Environment, Housing and Leisure, be authorised to enter into an Enhanced Partnership and Scheme(s) on behalf of the Authority and to take all other steps necessary to implement these proposals.

(Reason for decision:To support the further development of an Enhanced Partnership, which represents an opportunity to deliver aspects of the Authority’s and the region’s transport objectives and to secure ongoing Government funding for bus services.)