Mayor 'pressing ahead' on public control of buses

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said she wanted to improve bus services

The North East mayor has announced she is pressing ahead with plans to "bring buses back into public control".

To achieve this, a recommendation to prepare a Franchise Scheme Assessment (FSA) is to be discussed by the North East Combined Authority's cabinet.

This is a legal process enabling the authority to decide which services to provide, as well as when and where they would run.

Labour mayor Kim McGuinness said passengers "need our bus system to be more reliable and affordable".

Under current practices in most of England, bus operators run services under contract from the local authority, but if routes are not profitable companies may cut them.

Kim McGuinness said £101m of funding was being allocated to improve bus services

The process was expected to take almost three years, but the mayor said changes to accelerate the move were announced in this week's King's Speech.

In the short-term an extra £101m of bus funding is due to be provided, she said.

Ms McGuinness added: "We need to recognise that the existing system is broken and things need to change if we are to grow bus use and improve things for passengers."