Greater Manchester bus network plans 'agreed after irrational consultation'

The plans for a London-style bus system were approved in March

A public consultation into bus franchising plans was "irrational" and should have been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a court has heard.

Stagecoach and Rotala are challenging the decision to bring buses back under public control in Greater Manchester.

The region's mayor Andy Burnham approved the plans in March, whereby operators will bid to run services on a franchise basis, the High Court heard.

But the bus companies have claimed the process was "flawed" and "unlawful".

A report assessing the possible impact of Covid on the plans was ordered in June 2020, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It followed an initial public consultation between October 2019 and January 2020.

Mr Burnham, along with council leaders, was told that it was necessary to consider the potential consequences of Covid on the scheme before it could be approved.

After receiving the report in November, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) agreed to consult the public on the findings from December 2020 to January 2021.

Andy Burnham has previously urged bus companies "to work with us not against us"

But Rotala, the parent company of Diamond Bus, said the GMCA should have "waited until things become clearer" before proceeding with the "unreasonable" consultation, the court heard.

Andrew Singer QC, the barrister representing the firm, said the decision "was irrational because not only was there the same uncertainty that there had been in June, but actually there was more uncertainty".

But Michael Howell QC, representing the GMCA, said the assessment never claimed to be an audit report.

Mr Howell added: "There's no reason why you can't conduct a consultation in two periods, the idea that there's no power to consult under [the Bus Services Act] would obviously be absurd."

But he was challenged by Mr Justice Julian Knowles on the scenarios within the Covid impact report predicting how passenger levels would increase or decrease.

The judge said: "These are just miscellaneous guesstimates of what [passenger levels] could be, albeit with no data to back them up."

The hearing continues.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]