North East Combined Authority to pursue Quality Contract Scheme for buses

The North East Combined Authority (NECA) has submitted proposals for the introduction of a Quality Contracts Scheme for bus services in the region.

Under the plans bus companies would be contracted by Nexus on behalf of the combined authority to provide routes at a contractually agreed price.

This would replace the current system where bus operators choose which services to run on the basis of market forces, and local authorities subsidise routes that would not be commercially viable.

The proposals will apply to Tyne & Wear and to those services that cross into Northumberland and Durham. A protocol has been agreed to avoid adverse impacts on other services in the two counties.

NECA rejected an alternative proposal from bus operators for a voluntary partnership agreement where the companies would work together with the combined authority to provide a co-ordinated service.

The plans will now go before an independent Quality Contracts Board convened by the Traffic Commissioner, which will consider whether the proposal is in the public interest. 

Its decision will then be referred back to the combined authority for a final decision. The authority hopes, if approval is received, to introduce the scheme by April 2017.

The North East is understood to be the first part of the country to reach this stage in developing a Quality Contracts Scheme under legislation introduced in 2000.

Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council and Regional Transport lead for NECA said: “After a lengthy and careful consideration of the Quality Contracts Scheme proposal, and the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, the Leadership Board felt that the QCS scheme to be in the best interests of bus users in the region.

“The proposal presents the best option for increasing passenger numbers, protecting important but less profitable bus routes, preserving concessionary fares and providing a clear and easier to use bus network for passengers.”

He added: “We realise that the bus companies will find this decision disappointing. But leaders took their decision balancing the wider public interest and concluded that the voluntary arrangements proposed by the bus companies could simply not deliver our ambitions for better bus services. We were also clear that, without action, bus use would continue to decline, and the pressures on public funding would simply become unsustainable.”

However, Tim Dodds from operator Go North East told the BBC that the QCS would bankrupt the bus system inside ten years.

He said: "It's a simple fact that the local authorities simply can't afford to run this bus contract scheme."