Wakefield Council leader accuses Arriva of 'disgraceful behaviour' over cutbacks
Arriva says it plans to run local networks with 80 fewer drivers.
Wakefield Council plans to ‘take on’ Arriva over the bus operator’s plan to cut services, the authority’s leader has revealed.
Denise Jeffery accused the company of “disgraceful behaviour” as she urged fellow councillors to back a campaign to protect the loss of key passenger routes across the district.
Earlier this month, senior councillors and MPs said they had been informed that some school bus routes could be lost and core services reduced amid a driver shortage.
Arriva said it planned to run local networks with 80 fewer drivers.
Coun Jeffery told a full council meeting on Wednesday (October 16): “I make no apologies for saying this, they are going to devastate our area and take our buses away.
“Children won’t be able to get to school, people won’t be able to get about and we really must do something about it.”
The leader of the Labour-run authority she had met with Arriva this week, alongside West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and Matthew Morley, the council’s cabinet member for planning and highways.
In March, Ms Brabin announced plans to bring the county’s bus services back under public control and recommended franchising as the best way to improve local networks.
Coun Jeffery said: “The excuse is that they can’t get enough drivers.
“Well we found out yesterday that they have had training schemes. People have been on them but nobody actually wants to work for Arriva.
“Now, I wonder why that is? This district is going to suffer terribly.”
Councillors were told plans were in place to put a motion before next month’s full council meeting calling for urgent action to be taken to prevent more cuts.
Coun Jeffery urged councillors of all political groups to back the motion, adding: “We are going to have to take Arriva on. I really want to make a stand about this.
“We have to do something. We can’t just leave it and hope that Arriva will pick up.
“I think it is the worst bus company in the country and it just so happens that we are stuck with it in Wakefield.”
Pete Girt, leader of the Lib Dem group, said “I’ve said this in this chamber before, the only way to solve the problems in public transport – not just buses but trains as well – is to take it all back into public ownership.
“Privatisation is a total failure. It doesn’t put the travelling public first at all. I don’t have a lot of confidence that franchising will make any difference, but I’m prepared to wait and see on that.”
Kevin Swift, Labour councillor for Wakefield West, said: “It does stick in the craw that Arriva are able to blackmail us.
“I do think that there needs to be some emergency legislation so that what I would loosely call ‘failing’ bus services can actually be placed under the direct control of the (West Yorkshire) combined authority.
“I don’t think we can accept this scorched earth policy.
“I do feel there is a need to ask government for emergency legislation so that direct control can be exercised and we don’t simply have to cross their palms with silver every time that they act irresponsibly.”
Charlie Keith, Labour councillor for Wrenthorpe and Outwood West, said: “If Arriva can’t fulfil their contract in supplying this public service they should be asked to stand down until an alternative provider is found. It’s as simple as that.
“If they can’t employ drivers then they can’t provide the service.
“This is the whole problem with providing public services with a company that marches to the sound of the ringing till.
“They look after their shareholders first. The public comes absolutely last. This is not how it should be run.”
In a statement issued on October 4, an Arriva spokesperson said: “We are working closely with West Yorkshire Combined Authority to explore options to deliver more reliable and higher-performing services to passengers in Wakefield and across West Yorkshire.
“We need to be clear that no decisions have been reached and we remain fully committed to serving West Yorkshire.
“We continue to recruit and train more drivers, and we are committed to expanding our workforce further.
“Despite over 200 new drivers joining Arriva West Yorkshire this year alone, we are struggling to deliver all our timetabled services.
“Passengers understandably tell us that the reliability of services is crucial, and it is essential that the timetables match the resource available to deliver them.”