‘To say we are an organisation “paid for by the bus operators” and thereby imply that we are not “both independent and impartial” is deliberately misleading’, says BUS USERS UK chairman Gavin Booth. ‘We are a membership organisation, albeit one with a membership which is small and drawn largely from people who cannot afford a large subscription. The bus industry has, it is true, stepped in to help us in the absence of any other funding regime. But the bus operators know that they are not “buying our silence” or forcing our agenda. We would recognise that our agenda may be different from that of some of the PTAs’ political masters, but we have always insisted on being a non-political body’.

Ministers prior to Ruth Kelly and Rosie Winterton have consistently taken the view that BUS USERS UK should be funded by the industry, and BUS USERS UK in England has followed this line simply because it has not had an option. It has always sought to minimise the funding it gets from the industry, and its activities in Wales and Scotland are funded entirely by Welsh Assembly Government and Scottish Government respectively.

The model BUS USERS UK uses in Wales in particular has been especially effective and is one that the organisation is keen to roll out to the rest of Great Britain (outside London which has its own arrangements). Government funding in England may not lead to a major shift in agenda for BUS USERS UK, but it would make its independence more transparent.

‘We are by no means wedded to the idea that we should be funded by the bus industry’, says Gavin Booth; ‘Indeed if Councillor Jones or any other member of any PTA or local authority wishes to discuss financing BUS USERS UK with us, he and they would be very welcome.’

Nonetheless BUS USERS UK, like many local authorities, has found that adopting a partnership approach with operators rather than one that is confrontational for the sake of it, leads to better results for all concerned.

Councillor Jones refers to GMPTE’s surgery programme. Surgeries are central to BUS USERS UK’s work, and we have offered the PTE help with their programme; indeed we were warmly received by PTE officers when we approached them and enjoyed a constructive dialogue with them.