Plymouth CityBus up for sale?
COUNCIL leader Vivien Pengelly has declared Plymouth CityBus will not be sold unless a 'sensible' offer is put forward.
Yesterday
-
Plymouth Citybus
– within hours of the authority announcing that it was looking into
releasing some or all of its shares in Plymouth CityBus – First Devon
and Cornwall and taxi company boss John Preece both expressed interest
in acquiring the company.
Plymouth CityBus' 485 staff members
were told of the proposal at about 6am yesterday, just before starting
work, and that they would not be affected while discussions took place.
The council Cabinet will meet next week to discuss the sell-off proposals.
Following
a full scrutiny process, the full council will have the final decision,
with the company possibly being offered for sale by the autumn.
Cllr Pengelly said: "I will say that Plymouth CityBus will not be sold unless a sensible offer is put forward.
"This process will simply see us testing the market to see what it's worth.
"Running a bus company is not core council business and we're one of the few councils in the country to still own one.
"During
these tough economic times, it would be irresponsible not to find out
exactly what our assets are worth and to do that, we need to offer it
to the market. After all, something's only worth what someone's
prepared to pay for it.
"Most councils took the decision to sell their bus companies many years ago after deregulation in 1986.
"We're prepared to spark controversial debates if it means the people of Plymouth will benefit."
She reiterated that no decision had been made on the company's future.
Marc
Reddy, managing director of First Devon and Cornwall, said: "We're
always interested in opportunities to expand our business in the South
West.
"If and when Plymouth Citybus is offered for sale, naturally we would be interested in it."
A
report to Cabinet recommends the authority offers CityBus shares for
sale to see how much the company is worth, and gauge market interest.
The
authority is considering its options for the future ownership of
Plymouth CityBus. Those include keeping all the shares, selling some
while retaining a majority shareholding or selling all the shares.
A
report to Cabinet suggests the city council would receive millions of
pounds if a sale were to take place, which could then be invested in
front-line services through its capital programme.
However, Roger Creagh-Osborne, the Green Party spokesman for Plymouth and Cornwall, said he was sceptical.
"It's far more appropriate to keep CityBus in public ownership and manage it for the good of the city," he said.
"The impact on passengers and fares could be less than beneficial.
"It's really cutting off their nose to spite their face.
"They
have a very useful resource for the city in the form of CityBus.
Plymouth City Council needs to manage it for the good of the city and
not simply let it go to pay off debts."
Only 13 council-owned
bus companies now exist in the country, with most authorities having
disposed of their bus fleets. In Eastbourne Stagecoach has just added
12 new buses to the local fleet within days of acquiring the company.
88 Comments
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by Me, Here
Tuesday, December 01 2009, 2:45PM
“Word is that the Go-Ahead group is the preferred bidder, which is probably a good thing, sa they will not only keep the current management in place but also it'll be run in a not dissimilar fashion to the way it is at the moment. The livery would be kept too although it would probably say "part of the Go-Ahead group" on the bus somewhere. All in all they would be the best people to run it as you wouldn't really notice much difference, unlike with Stagecoach and First group's corporate identity”
by John Pady, Yatton, Bristol
Sunday, June 14 2009, 10:38AM
“Having worked for PCB many years ago and having a keen interest in the bus industry I have to say it would be a tragedy to privatise such a long-standing and successful operation. The people of Plymouth would be the losers if this is sold off as fares would rise and the quality of service would deteriorate. It is clear the people of Plymouth don't want to lose PCB. ' It ain't broke so why try toi fix it '”
by wayne, plymouth
Wednesday, June 03 2009, 2:04PM
“if city bus is sold, it should not be to first who would have a manopoly on plymouth, but not Stagecoach how would axe services & staff, also not to the very person who sold western national in the first place.”
by first driver, plymouth
Tuesday, June 02 2009, 11:59PM
“in response to whitleigh boii, i think you'll find the majority of citybuses new buses are on lease. we have ONE stepped dart for a specific route on narrow roads, in case you have not noticed citybus still use a lot of stepped darts, and you can criticise our "new" double deckers but we have them cos they are low floor, how many do citybus have er . . . . . none!
any compant that takes over will send all the leased buses back get rid of the old granny routes and yes there will be plenty of job losses not nice just facts, unlike your comments whitleigh boi”
by Andy Gibbons, Plymouth
Thursday, May 28 2009, 4:04PM
“Plymouth Citybus is a successful local company for local people. The fight has just begun and is about keeping the company local, in public ownership and keeping people in their jobs. Whoever (if successful) buys the company would look to streamline the whole business. This would, without doubt lead to job losses, not just Management losses but Driver losses. The company would be restructured, school buses would possibly be axed, routes cut, prices increased, possible relocation, working conditions revised, hourly pay reduced, pensions frozen and vehicle fleet not kept at its current high standard. Drivers could kiss goodbye to the aggreements already in place, such as the schedules agreement for example. There will be several parties interested in getting their hands on Citybus, so I urge all Plymouthians and Employees to fight together to keep Citybus in public ownership, in the interest of everyone concerned, staff and its customers.”