Campaigner calls for axed South Yorkshire bus operators Powell's and CT Plus to be bought as public company

On Friday, August 5, HCT Group announced its Powell’s and CT Plus companies would close and services will cease from Monday, August 8.

Powell’s Bus then tweeted to say it was closing ‘with a view to entering administration’ and all services would stop from 5pm on August 5.

A total of 19 services across South Yorkshire are affected, including 10 in Sheffield, eight in Rotherham, four in Doncaster and two in Barnsley, with some of those services operating across more than one local authority. Around 50 staff members are set to be affected.

The TUC’s Better Buses Campaigner in Yorkshire Gareth Forest has now called for CT Plus and Powell’s to be brought under public control.

He said: “We are calling for CT Plus and Powell’s to be bought as a public bus operator of last resort, in order to plug the gap where bus services have been withdrawn, and to maintain a functioning bus network in the face of ongoing cuts to privately run bus routes.”

“Our bus network is in crisis. The relentless cuts to services are now turning into wholesale failures of bus operators. Passengers across our region are being left with no option to travel to work during the biggest cost of living crisis on record. Something has got to change,” Gareth added.

“This shows the desperate need for mayors to continue to deliver on public control of buses as per their manifesto commitments. We need to see bus franchising assessments accelerated, to end this wild west free market where operators can walk away from vital services with no consequences.”

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority had already been providing Powell’s with ‘additional levels of funding this year’.

“Their announcement this week is just another example of how the system as a whole is broken - temporarily plugging the gap of at-risk services is not a viable long-term solution or a route to building the public transport network our region needs,” he said

Mayor Coppard said his priority is to ‘move at pace to find operators to plug the gaps’ that will be caused by the closure of the two operators, adding: “Right now we have a broken system that allows operators to simply walk away, leaving taxpayers to step in and prop up services, so people can get to work, school, medical appointments and to see family and friends. That’s why we are undertaking the assessment into whether we can franchise South Yorkshire’s buses, as a route to a long-term solution for our public transport network. In the meantime, it’s also why we’ve asked the government for a funding package that allows us to better support and maintain our public transport network.”

“More immediately, I have asked officers to look into all the options open to us to protect services, including our legal position in relation to ownership of bus companies. People will understand that it’s a complicated process, limited by legislation in the Bus Services Act and a host of other challenges. However, I will explore any and all opportunities to protect and improve services.”