Labour councillors suggest recruiting bus drivers from overseas

A motion has been put forward by two of the city’s Labour councillors in a bid to improve the bus crisis.

A recent shortage in bus drivers across Bristol has resulted in the cancellation of thousands of bus journeys.

With this is mind, Labour councillor for Eastville, Marley Bennett and Labour councillor for Brislington East, Tim Rippington have put forward a short-term solution, calling on the government to introduce a visa to allow more bus drivers to come to the UK.

This way, bus companies will be able to recruit more drivers to operate a suitable number of routes for the people of Bristol.

Labour councillor for Brislington East, Tim Rippington has put forward a motion for better bus services – photo: Labour Party

The motion has been submitted by both councillors to address the bus crisis at the next full council meeting on December 13.

As part of it, Bennett and Rippington are calling on the government to fund a pay uplift for bus drivers, which would increase the attractiveness of the sector.

They have also put forward a long-term suggestion that councils should be able to bring bus services into public ownership. That way profits would be reinvested directly into public transport, rather than going to a private company.

They believe the government should lift its ban on councils establishing municipal bus companies.

The councillors are also calling on the West of England Combined Authority to audit areas that have lost a bus service completely and look at subsidy options to reinstate them.

The motion also asks First Bus for firm commitments to reinstate routes which have had frequencies cut, and for the company to extend the elderly and disabled persons bus passes so they are valid around the clock.

Marley Bennett commented: “This situation isn’t sustainable. Areas like Stapleton have been left without a bus service entirely, which is cutting people off from their communities. Public transport is crucial to getting people out of their cars and driving down carbon emissions – how are we meant to do that when areas are being left without a reliable service?

“We need to tackle problems at the root cause to properly address the crisis. We’re in this situation as First Bus had to make significant cuts to their services due lack of drivers. This shortage who have left the sector after receiving higher paying roles driving Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), as an example. The solution to this is apparent – we need to take action to make the sector more attractive for bus drivers. There is an obvious way for the government to do this – by mandating and funding a pay uplift.

“However, I recognise that training new drivers will take time. In the immediate future, the government should introduce a visa scheme, similar to the Seasonal Workers visa for agriculture workers, to attract more overseas bus drivers.”

“These measures will help stop the immediate crisis. But this doesn’t change the obvious fact that the privatisation of buses has been an abject failure. The government needs to allow councils to take bus services into public ownership.”

“We need to tackle problems at the root cause to properly address the crisis.”, said Marley Bennett – photo: Bristol City Council

Speaking on the bus crisis, Tim Rippington, said: “People in Brislington are fed up of delays, cancellations, and even some routes being axed entirely. I appreciate that all the issues facing bus companies can’t be resolved instantly, which is why we’re putting forward measures to help address the crisis in the short, medium, and long term. The driver shortage a national problem, so it is only logical to put forward national solutions and well as regional ones.

“We’re also calling for other measures to help bus users, such as for West of England Combined Authority (WECA) to extend the elderly and disabled badge so it’s valid around the clock. After the collapse of dial-a-ride services, we need help from WECA to make public transport as accessible as possible for elderly and disabled people.

“We also need WECA to comprehensively audit areas that have lost services. This is so that when driver levels increase, we already know which areas are most in need for a restored bus service, so First Bus can immediately act to reinstate the most-needed bus routes.

“If this motion is selected for debate, I sincerely hope it will receive cross-party support so the council can put forward comprehensive solutions to the crisis.”

Main photo: Max Roche

Read next:

• Protest planned to ‘reclaim our buses’
• 1,500 bus journeys a week to be cancelled due to driver shortages 
• ‘When I take the First Bus gamble, I tend to lose’
• Axed buses branded the ‘collapse of Bristol’s public transport system’ 

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