Fare reimbursement row may cut services

26 March 2008

Bus services in Gloucestershire could be cut because of rows over concessionary fare reimbursement schemes prompted by last summer’s flooding.

Bus operator Stagecoach has said it is being short-changed by district councils in the county by almost £450,000, and that it can’t afford to put on services if authorities will not reimburse it fairly.

A Department for Transport adjudicator has ruled in favour of Stagecoach, but the district councils involved say the estimated figures – used to work out reimbursement levels – are not fair because they don’t take into account the impact last summer’s floods had on passenger numbers, and are refusing to pay until they see ‘proper evidence’.

Steve Stewart, a spokesman for Stagecoach, said: ‘While we are pleased to provide the concessions as we appreciate the benefits these have for social inclusion, they must be administered, as the law says, in a way that the bus companies are no better or worse off. ‘It makes us very unhappy that, in cases where reimbursement is insufficient to cover costs, we would have to reduce services, but the fault lies at the door of whoever administrates the Gloucestershire scheme.’

Speaking on behalf of the district councils, Cllr Paul James, leader of Gloucester City Council, accused the bus company of ‘Dick Turpin tactics’. ‘We are not going to be railroaded in this way. We all have to be sure that the money we pay to the company is correct, and can be justified,’ he said.

‘We must act in the interests of all of our taxpayers and we can’t simply hand over substantial sums of cash simply because Stagecoach demand it.

‘It is unfair in the extreme for the company to threaten to cut these services because of this ongoing situation. There is no need to make these cuts. If the company does, it will be for purely commercial reasons.’ Both parties have indicated there could be further legal proceeding should talks between the two fail.

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