Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]

Sarah Hall Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 2nd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Hall (Warrington South) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Bill will restore, for the first time in decades, the power of local authorities across the country to create new, publicly owned municipal bus companies. When bus services are run in the public interest, they work better and they work for everyone.

In Warrington South, we already know the difference that that can make. Warrington’s Own Buses is a fantastic example of what a publicly owned bus company operated under a Labour-run administration can achieve. It is rolling out a fully electric fleet and continues to offer a flat fare of £2 for adults and £1 for under-22s. It provides free travel for care leavers and maintains essential services that the private sector would walk away from. It is a bus company run for the public good, not for private profit. It is locally managed and accountable to the people it serves. It delivers social value, environmental gains and a surplus back to the local authority.

We must protect municipal bus companies that already serve their communities and give local authorities the freedom to use them as part of new franchising arrangements. I urge the Minister to ensure that the Bill and its guidance reflect the principle that where public ownership works, as it does in Warrington, we back it and build on it, because that is how we will reverse the long decline in our bus services under successive Conservative Governments and start to deliver the modern, affordable, low-carbon transport system that our communities deserve.

Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)

Sarah Hall Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 24th June 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Sarah Hall (Warrington South) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I am a Warrington MP, and, as has been mentioned, the town has one of the country’s eight remaining municipal bus companies—the award-winning Warrington’s Own Buses. It is a trailblazer, and it is an example of what a municipal bus company can be and what can be achieved. For example, Warrington still has capped fares, and the bus company can still offer a flat fee of £2 for adults and £1 for under-22s. We have a pioneering all-electric fleet and a brand-new depot. Any profit goes back into the service, and we have free travel for care leavers. With a municipal bus company that understands our communities, we have been able to maintain the essential services that private providers would simply give up on and walk away from.

[Jerome Mayhew]

I agree with much of the hon. Lady’s description of Warrington’s Own Buses. A few weeks ago, I spoke to the company’s managing director and I was impressed, as I said on Second Reading. However, does the hon. Lady agree that that is because Warrington’s Own Buses has 30, 40 or 50 years’ institutional experience in running those kinds of services—experience that other local authorities simply do not have? Does she also agree that exactly the same delivery of services can be achieved through an enhanced partnership, in which the operator works in collaboration with the local authority, and it is up to them to decide what is important for the community?

[Sarah Hall]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. I put it on record that Ben Wakerley, who heads up Warrington’s Own Buses, is fantastic. He has been a real asset for us. Experience is an important factor, but it is also about understanding the community that a company serves, and that does not take 30 or 40 years. It just means taking the time to know and understand the community. Ben has not been there for 30 or 40 years, but he has been leading the way with a lot of the delivery.

Collaboration can be good, but my experience of Warrington’s Own Buses, and of how it has focused on services and delivered in the way that it has, shows how powerful that format can be. I encourage other areas to adopt the same thing, because it has put power back into the hands of the community, not private providers.

Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [ Lords ] (Seventh sitting)

Sarah Hall Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 3rd July 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Sarah Hall (Warrington South) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain.

I will speak to the clause and from my experience of representing an area that already benefits from the use of zero emission vehicles. Warrington’s Own Buses, our municipal bus company, set out an ambition to replace its entire diesel fleet with a fleet of all-electric buses with the aim of reducing carbon emissions in the town and transforming bus travel in the borough, and it has delivered on that. The all-electric, bright yellow buses, including new double-decker buses, were introduced in 2024. I was delighted to attend the launch.

The new zero emission fleet has many benefits. Noise operation is much reduced, minimising noise pollution and creating a more pleasant environment for passengers and passers-by along the routes. The buses are compliant with the strictest emissions regulations, contributing to cleaner air. They are powered by renewable energy and designed to be as green and carbon neutral as possible. We have an electrified depot that ensures smooth operation of the fleet, and Warrington’s Own Buses has overhauled fleet management with the introduction of a new digital system.