COUNCIL-RUN bus services have been ruled out for the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area – for now.

The franchise route is one of the options now available to councils under government plans to improve services, but despite support from some BCP councillors the idea has been ruled out by the controlling Conservative group.

Deputy council leader Philip Broadhead says that now is not the right time.

“We might want to go down the franchise route in the future…but we don’t want to dilute our efforts now,” he told Wednesday’s Cabinet.

He said the move was also likely to upset the current operators which, in turn, might lead to them reducing investment if they believed the council was serious about franchising services.

The meeting heard that while larger authorities, such as Liverpool, Sheffield and Leeds were keen on the idea it had already been ruled out in the West Midlands as being too expensive. If the BCP area picked the route it would need to make a special case to the Secretary of State.

The council is about to embark on a consultation to bring about a better working relationship with the two main bus operators in the area – leading to the publication of a bus service improvement plan by the end of October.

If it fails to do so it could lead to the loss of Government subsidy for bus services.

The new scheme, known as an Enhanced Partnership, is expected to come into effect from April 2022. It will look at routes, fare structures and the availability of local bus routes as well as their connections with trains.

Former council leader Vikki Slade has previously described the proposals as ‘wishy washy’ and ‘lacking ambition.’

Portfolio holder Cllr Mike Greene said the project did have the potential for both better services and, ultimately, some cheaper fares.

Poole councillor Andy Hadley said with the tight timetable he could understand the need to move quickly but called for consideration also to be given to ways of attracting more people onto the buses: “We need to persuade people that jumping into a car and then sitting in a queue of traffic is not the best option,” he said, asking for consideration to ideas to also promote walking and cycling.