In the latest shock sale of Bournemouth's assets, the Lib Dem Council have decided to offload Yellow Buses which have belonged to the people of the town for over 100 years.

The Conservatives are strongly opposed to the sale of Bournemouth Transport because the timing is totally misjudged and the so called 'independent' advice on which the Council is making this important decision is unbalanced and fundamentally flawed.

Lib Dem Councillors pushed through the go-ahead for the sale last week on the say-so of the Cabinet only six days earlier. They did so without any financial information being made available, without seeking any news from the Company on current trading and without any consideration of the implications for proper route coverage or the level of bus fares in the future. They did not consider the complex issues around the value of the Company, which is likely to increase substantially in the future, nor the pensions of present and past employees which are at present uncertain.

Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin, Leader of the Conservatives on Bournemouth Council said, 'We will continue to ask the Lib Dem administration to answer the many important questions about what happens once the Company is sold. Questions such as - Will the Council tax payer be able to afford to pay for the 'social dividend' or will marginal routes and off-peak services to the outer parts of Bournemouth cease to run? - that's what happens elsewhere. How will passengers be protected from higher fares once the Company is sold-off and there is no serious competition? - as happens elsewhere. Why is the Council selling an asset that made almost £1million last year - to spend on something that may lose it money in the future?' Cllr MacLoughlin continued, 'The people of Bournemouth expect proper answers and we will continue to press for them. They also want to know the real reasons for the sale and what their money is going to be spent on by the Lib Dems.'

The Lib Dem Cabinet seems completely reliant on a report by KPMG which very few Councillors have seen - a report which fails to work up a properly balanced business case for a sale - a report that exaggerates the risk and is economical with the full picture - a report that is simply concerned with reaching a conclusion to sell - in which KPMG itself has a serious interest. Reliance on this report as the reason to sell Yellow Buses is either naive in the extreme or willfully planned to give the selectively based conclusion required. Either way it should fail to convince anyone who has studied the figures.

Cllr MacLoughlin added, 'It is very disappointing that the Council have so publicly lost faith in Bournemouth Transport. Current competition may be a threat but Yellow Buses see it as an opportunity. It is a manageable risk and one that the Company is responding to very well - as Councillors might have been able to judge had they asked for the figures before making a decision.'

Conservatives know that a sale of the Company at this time is the wrong thing to do. It does not give the best return to the Council tax payer - rather it squanders a great opportunity. There is no doubt that a sale now and in this way is a very high risk approach with uncertain and wider outcomes based on a short-term strategy which should have concerned all Councillors across all parties. The Lib Dem Councillors do not share these concerns and despite the business inexperience of most of them seem to believe everything they are told without asking any of the necessary questions to come to a decision based on the facts.

It is a sad day for the people of Bournemouth that such important decisions, which formed no part of the Lib Dem manifesto when they took control of Bournemouth Council last year, are being made without any proper scrutiny or consideration by Councillors.

For further details please contact:-

Cllr John Beesley
Bournemouth Conservatives
on Bournemouth Council

Tel. 01202 762403
Mobile 07860 391219
email john.beesley@bournemouth.gov.uk