Arriva loses appeal in dispute with Tees Valley authority

An independent adjudicator ruled in favour of the Tees Valley Combined Authority

A bus operator has lost its appeal following a dispute over concessionary fares with a local authority mayor.

Arriva North East had asked the government to review the level of reimbursement paid by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).

But an independent adjudicator ruled in favour of the TVCA.

Tees Valley Conservative mayor Ben Houchen, said the decision was "extremely important" as councils were already "stretched financially".

The operator lost responsibility for dozens of services across the Tees Valley earlier this year, after failing to reach a funding agreement with the authority.

It blamed TVCA for a 28% cut in the funding that was meant to be used to reimburse operators for carrying people eligible for free bus travel.

The bus firm had asked for a funding review, saying it would not cover the costs of running a significant number of services, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service. (LDRS).

'Greedy tactics'

After the ruling, Mr Houchen said: "This may not be the biggest or sexiest announcement, but it is an extremely important one for local people.

"At a time where councils are stretched financially, I am pleased that we held our nerve and didn't bow to the greedy tactics employed by Arriva.

"This independent judgement will be fantastic news to our local councils who will no longer have to fork out millions of pounds over the odds to satisfy Arriva's shareholders."

TVCA said it had offered a "fair settlement", which was approved by two other bus operators in the region, Stagecoach and Go North East.

Arriva previously said the level of reimbursement was "well below" what is paid by other authorities in the North East.