Opposition for NBC
Page 23
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SURREY County Council seems set to support a bid by three independent bus operators to take over routes operated by National Bus Company subsidiaries Alder Valley and London Country in the Guildford and Cranleigh area.
Tillingbourne Bus, Blue Saloon and Safeguard announced in March that they wished to take over the routes which are revenue supported and promised significant savings for the county council. The council engaged outside consultants MVA Consultancy and PA Management Consultants, to prepare an impartial report.
The consultants found that the independents were generally aware of the changes they would need to make in order to expand their operations, although the study team were concerned that Blue Saloon would have to make larger changes than the other two operators and would therefore require more extensive attention from county council officers.
They also suggested than the financial savings suggested would not be as great as the independents suggested, but would remain significant.
The possibility of NBC costs being transferred to other routes in the county was also a possibility. The consultants did dispute the amount of NBC costs involved and it would remain up to the county council to decide if any level of transfer would be allowed in any future claim for revenue support.
The team took into consideration the contents of the Buses White Paper in making recommendations that the county council should seek to implement the Safeguard and Tillingbourne proposals as rapidly as practical through negotiation with the NBC companies
involved and this should be accompanied with the phasing out of Tillingbourne's revenue support.
It should seek certain assurances from Blue Saloon and then implement that part of the proposals. If Blue Saloon was unable to provide the necessary assurances the council should consider London Country proposals for that part of the operations.