A local transport group is worried that the loss of Louise Haigh from the cabinet means the region could now be worse off.
The resignation of the Sheffield Heeley MP as Transport Secretary last Friday marked the first change to Sir Keir Starmer’s top team since the July election.
Fran Postlethwaite, convenor of Better Buses South Yorkshire (BBSY), said that they had formed a strong dialogue with the MP and are worried that this will set back the group’s goals of improving the region’s services.
She said: “I think most of us greeted the news with some dismay, because she has been so openly committed and pushing for funding. She was very much of the north.”
Haigh’s resignation comes in the middle of the public consultation on bus franchising. The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYCMA) is currently seeking feedback on taking back control of the region’s buses. The consultation has already received thousands of responses ahead of the closing date on 15 January, with an announcement of the decision expected in early March.
BBSY is a broad coalition that includes disability advocates, climate campaigns, community groups, and individual passengers based around Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. They see franchising as a key first step towards total public ownership, something that is currently not possible in law.
Fran said: “It’s not legal at the moment, the idea of public ownership. It may be, if the Better Buses Bill that Louise Haigh was promising us is still on the table.
“Lou used to come to some of our demonstrations in Sheffield…She was actually here as well as the national figure. And that’s not the case with Heidi Alexander.
“You just wonder, how much is she in tune with what the situation is, particularly in the North.”
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard will now be without a fellow Sheffielder in the top transport job, only a fortnight after the two appeared together in online promotional material. The collaboration was for the announcement of £17.6m in funding for South Yorkshire buses, with transforming South Yorkshire’s transport being one of Coppard’s signature pitches when running for mayor.
Postlethwaite said this was only worth promoting given their connection: “I think it was the fact that Lou Haigh was from South Yorkshire… I don’t think there’s that much national interest in the idea that South Yorkshire has had less recovery… Lack of funding that has meant our bus services have crumbled even more.”
South Yorkshire is allocated one of the lowest amounts per resident for transport in the country. For instance, West Yorkshire residents receive £40 per head, compared to South Yorkshire’s £10.
“She was prepared to speak out… And I’m afraid in Labour at the moment, that doesn’t seem a very popular thing to do”, Fran said.
It may not be the end of Louise Haigh’s career in the cabinet however, with Angela Rayner on Thursday championing the work of the MP: “I think Louise Haigh was a fantastic secretary of state. We have just this week announced the first rail passenger services in the south coming back into public ownership – that was Lou that did that work.
“If she wants to be in government I’m sure she’ll keep striving and will earn her place back.”
Only time will tell if South Yorkshire was just getting a good deal because of the MP.
Louise Haigh has been approached for comment.
