Bitter row as Labour fails to stop Citybus sale plan

AN ATTEMPT to stop Plymouth Citybus being put up for sale has been thrown out after a council meeting degenerated into a bitter shouting match.

The city council has invited bids from potential buyers for some or all of its shares in the bus company.

The decision, made by the Cabinet on June 2, has sparked a fierce row in the city and was formally challenged by Labour leader Tudor Evans at a heated special Scrutiny Commission meeting.

During the four-hour meeting the Commission’s chairman struggled to keep order as councillors began shouting to make themselves heard. At one point Cllr Evans banged his fist on a table.

But his bid to stall the proposed Citybus sale by getting the decision sent back to Cabinet for a rethink failed when his challenge was flatly rejected by the Tory-dominated commission.

After the meeting he told The Herald it was a “devastating blow”, adding: “I will not lie down, I will not surrender. It’s a disgrace.”

At the meeting, held at Council House yesterday, Cabinet member Peter Brookshaw revealed that the council has already had four expressions of interest in buying Citybus, an independently run company which is wholly owned by the council. He did not name the bidders.

An angry Cllr Evans demanded that council leader Vivien Pengelly should come to the meeting to answer questions, instead of her Cabinet colleague, Cllr Brookshaw.

He accused Conservative Cabinet member Ian Bowyer of “giving the appearance of impropriety” because as a shareholder in a potential rival he took part in early discussions about the council’s project to “test the market” to find out what Citybus is worth.

Cllr Bowyer, the Cabinet member for finance, has shares in Taxibank, one of a consortium that has expressed an interest in buying Citybus. Cllr Bowyer did not declare an interest on June 2, the day the Cabinet agreed to seek bids.

When the consortium led by Taxifast boss John Preece said it was interested in buying the company, Cllr Bowyer declared an interest and withdrew from any debates on Citybus.

“It may be right, but it doesn’t look right,” Cllr Evans said.

Cllr Brookshaw said that Mr Bowyer’s holding was worth about £200, and that until the Preece interest was raised there had been no conflict of interest because Taxibank is a call centre and not a taxi company.

Cllr Evans said the council had “failed to consult anyone who isn’t in the charmed circle of Conservative councillors”.

“We haven’t consulted anyone because we haven’t taken a decision yet,” Cllr Brookshaw said. “If and when we decide to sell Citybus we’ll consult the public.

“We’re here today to discuss Citybus shares. Everything else is irrelevant.”

Scrutiny Commission chairman David James, the Conservative councillor for Plympton St Mary, struggled to control the meeting, with several councillors shouting to be heard at times.

Labour councillor Chris Pattison, a member of the Commission, accused Cllr James of “trying to move to a vote all afternoon so you can support your Cabinet colleagues”.

Cllr James said: “I find that quite insulting.”

Cllr Evans claimed that the council could spark “Bus Wars” by inviting bids and making it clear that a decision on whether to sell would be made in November.

“You send out a signal that by November the council may be selling off Citybus. What would a rival say? They could say, ‘We’ll run competitive services and reduce the value of Citybus’,” he said.

That would trigger a fares war to drive down the value of the company – and the rival could then snap it up at a knockdown price, Cllr Evans said.

Cllr Brookshaw told councillors: “This is a fact-finding exercise. Any decision about the future of Citybus will be taken by the full council in November.

“There are only 13 council-owned bus companies in the country now, and those that have been sold off are providing a good service.”

Cllr Pattison said: “Nothing in the report talks about people, customers and services. It talks about Citybus in cold, hard, commercial terms.”

The council has said it is considering selling off Citybus because it is “not a core business”.

Cllr Evans, banging the table, said: “The Life Centre isn’t core business. Why aren’t we selling that?”

Cllr Pattison added: “Or the Theatre Royal?”

After the meeting, Cllr Evans said he was not surprised at the outcome and felt a decision had been made before he had a chance to speak.

He said: “I thought I owed it to the people of Plymouth. If this gets through uncriticised, it will be a very bad day for Plymouth City Council.”