W Midlands slammed over failure to arrest bus-use decline

10 January 2008

The Audit Commission has accused West Midlands councils of lacking direction and leadership in their efforts to reverse the decline in bus patronage.

In its annual letter to Centro-WMPTA, the financial watchdog said a step change was required to arrest the decline in bus use, which has dropped more than 11% since 2000/01.

District auditor, John Gregory, concluded that, while there was no ‘magic bullet’ that would rectify the problem, a range of integrated and sustained actions were required, if performance was to improve. He conceded that the authorities were now taking a more constructive approach to partnership at the strategic level – both among the authorities themselves and with the bus operators – but a ‘clear and comprehensive agreement on the way forward is lacking’.

Gregory said past performance had been let down by a lack of partnership, leadership and performance management. ‘Positive results have been achieved, such as the safer travel police team and Network West Midlands, but there is an acknowledgement that more could have been achieved and that much more needs to be achieved if the challenging target is to be reached,’ he said.

‘There are clear aims and strategies for the improvement of bus services in the West Midlands. However, their effectiveness is limited by a lack of shared understanding by the key agencies involved in their delivery.

‘Crucially, the bus strategy and the targets are not owned by the bus operators.’ Centro said it welcomed the report’s conclusion that it was ‘pursuing a fresh direction under new and stronger leadership’.

It said a number of projects addressed many of the report’s points, ‘in particular, the voluntary partnership agreement we have signed with the region’s biggest bus company’.

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W Midlands slammed over failure to arrest bus-use decline

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