First Bus: No confidence vote against under fire operator defeated

A motion of no confidence in an under-fire bus operator was defeated despite heavy criticism of its performance.

Councillor Caritas Charles brought the motion against First Bus to North Somerset Council but members voted against it by 15 votes to 13.

There has been growing criticism of the operator after months of delays, cancellations and a reduced timetable.

First Bus has apologised and said it has been experiencing continuing issues with driver shortages and sickness.

Mr Charles, councillor for Portishead East, said he had been inundated with messages from residents about disruption to their lives and called First Bus's performance "appalling".

"I was contacted by the mother of a student who travels by bus to a local school. They have lost in the last month over 11 hours of schooling due to non-existent or late buses.

"I have heard from residents who are abandoning the idea of selling their cars to be greener, for fear of losing their jobs."

Councillor Ash Cartman supported the motion, saying people in the area were "sick and tired" of the situation.

"I don't like blaming companies for poor service but all I'm asking for here is engagement and they just don't seem willing to do it," he added.

If the motion had been successful, it would allow the council leader take concerns over the bus service to the government and request more council control over public transport.

Executive member for transport and highways on North Somerset Council, Steve Hogg, criticised the service, but explained why he voted against the motion.

"I think we should reserve franchising as an option but I think we use that option if we're faced with complete market failure.

"Whilst it's dysfunctional, inadequate, underperforming and absolutely torrid for those people want to use it I don't think we have complete market failure right now," added Mr Hogg.

West of England mayor, Dan Norris, said he was worried about the situation but warned there was no "quick fix" and that a national shortage of drivers was one of the main problems.

"It's my job to make sure that...they are doing everything they possibly can to make sure buses are running properly, efficiently and well, which clearly isn't the case now.

"Buses not running makes a huge difference to people's lives. There are too many phantom buses, it isn't acceptable. Recruiting drivers is key to this," he added.

First Bus said congestion caused by roadworks in Bristol had exacerbated the situation but that it was "committed to putting service reliability right" and had started a major recruitment campaign.

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