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04
Oct
Consultants get £450,000 for bus franchise study
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has paid consultants £450,000 for a bus franchising study.
Labour Mayor David Skaith, who chairs the combined authority and has claimed bus services in the region are “broken”, is overseeing the development of a rural franchising model for the network.
Bus franchising is when a local public transport authority controls the bus routes, timetables, and ticket prices. It then hires private companies to drive the buses.
In November 2025, the combined authority was given £564,000 from the Department for Transport to deliver a rural bus franchising pilot study which would investigate how bus services could be delivered in a rural area.
The authority hired external consultants and a bus reform officer to help draw up the study, which is expected to publish a final report this month.
A number 2 bus in Harrogate.
The Stray Ferret can reveal that the combined authority commissioned Integrated Transport Planning, which is part of multi-national consultancy firm Haskoning, to deliver the work on a £450,000 contract.
According to the government’s procurement portal, the contract is due to last until April 2027.
It includes work such as a “high-level view of all bus reform options” open to the authority, a review of the current network and bus partnership models, a scoping report on five pilot areas and “examining different bus franchising models in the context of particular rural geographies”.
‘Appropriate and cost-effective’
The Stray Ferret asked the combined authority how much its bus reform officer was paid and why it felt it was necessary to appoint consultants for the study.
A spokesperson said:
Following a competitive procurement exercise, ITP by Haskoning were appointed to deliver the study, with the final report expected in October 2026.
The project is being delivered through a mix of internal capacity and external specialist support, commissioned to provide the expertise and additional resource needed to deliver the study within the required timescales. This was considered more appropriate and cost-effective than recruiting additional permanent members of staff for a time-limited project.
We do not disclose salary information relating to individual members of staff or specific roles where doing so could identify an individual, as this constitutes personal information.
It comes as Mr Skaith signed a statutory notice of intent to start the assessment for a franchise model in the region at a combined authority cabinet meeting on Friday (October 2).
A combined authority report said the estimated cost for the assessment phase is expected to be £3.5 million.
David Skaith
The Labour mayor said previously that the move did not necessarily mean the combined authority will franchise the bus network, but that it would be the “start of a journey” towards a franchise model.
Mr Skaith has received some pushback on his move towards a franchising model, with Conservative councillor, Michael Harrison, questioning the cost of the policy.
The mayor defended the move and said private operators were already being heavily subsidised.
He added that a franchise model would give “greater ownership” over timetables, pricing, routes and where the money for services goes.
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