Plymouth: 57pc rates rise?
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PLYMOUTH City Council has used a report by MVA Consultancy to suggest that deregulation of bus services might raise city rates by up to 57 per cent.
In the report commissioned by the city council, MVA suggests that the elimination of cross-subsidy will cause a revenue shortfall which is unlikely to be made up by improved efficiency.
MVA is particularly concerned about the uncertainty deregulation as proposed by the Government is likely to cause.
It suggests that this will affect potential operators, local autho rities and passengers, and cause considerable instability.
This, it says, will make it difficult for local authorities to budget properly and for potential operators to prepare sound business plans.
It also says that it will be difficult for the public to be sure that the service they need will be available.
It accepts that deregulation may create considerable dynamism in an industry not generally known for innovation, but it says that local authority responsibilities for the welfare of residents and other ratepayers and the financial environment in which they operate is not well suited to rapid response.
• The Institute of Road Transport Engineers is holding an open forum on deregulation on March 21 at the Royal Society of Arts, John Adam Street, London, at 7pm.
A panel of Denis Quin, Bus and Coach Council director general, James Isaac, West Midlands director general, Eastern National fleet engineer Ken Poison, and former Leicester City Transport general manager Geoffrey Hilditch will be chaired by CM editor lain Sherriff.