BUS APPEALS BODY
| Introduction |
| How we work |
| Terms |
| Contact Details |
| Links |
| Annual Report 2011 |
Bus Appeals Body 2011 annual reportDownload this report by right clicking here and selecting your browser's appropriate save option The Bus Appeals Body is a joint undertaking by Bus Users UK and the Confederation of Passenger Transport which revisits the complaints of passengers of buses and coaches when the passenger is not happy with the way the bus company has dealt with the issue. In such situations Bus Users UK tries to broker a solution with the bus company, and where this cannot be achieved for whatever reason, it is escalated to the Bus Appeals Body. Most operators of scheduled bus and coach services in Britain are members of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, and agree to abide by Bus Appeals Body decisions as part of their CPT membership. However it has no statutory remit. It deals with cases in England and Wales, excluding London: London, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have statutory bus passenger representation. Lord Snape of Wednesbury continued as chairman throughout 2011, with Dennis Flower representing the bus operators’ perspective and Stephen Morris for Bus Users UK representing the passenger. Once again most cases have been resolved easily and amicably, with little disagreement between the representatives, though inevitably some cases have not been resolved so easily and have required debate at the Body’s bi-monthly meetings. Bus Users UK took over the role of providing secretarial and administrative support from the CPT in February 2010 and Julian Osborne continued to undertake that role in 2011. Julian Osborne has been attending Bus Appeals Body meetings this year, while Mike Bartram from Passenger Focus and Simon Posner of the CPT have also attended as observers. Passenger Focus’s major investigation into how bus passenger complaints are dealt with across the board was published during the year, as later was a similar report about coaches. The Bus Appeals Body has cooperated fully with these investigations and the implementation of their recommendations. Passenger Focus started its full role in representing bus passengers in April 2010, though the BAB had been working closely with them throughout their ‘shadow’ operation in the previous year. 2011 Cases During 2011 Bus Users UK handled a total of 805 complaints, 518 in England and 287 in Wales; there is a difference of classification in Wales – see footnote. 25 complaints reached the Bus Appeals Body, 22 from England and three from Wales; this is a lower figure than 2010 and reflects continuing work by all parties to resolve situations amicably without referral. Because of the continuous nature of complaint referral and resolution some 2010 complaints were referred in 2011 and some 2011 complaints will be referred in 2012 but the general relationship between complaints received and referred may be inferred from the yearly totals. Of the 25 2011 referrals, six were withdrawn before the Bus Appeals Body had had the opportunity to decide them, largely due to belated decisions by the bus companies to resolve the issue before a BAB Decision was issued. Conversely we have been disappointed by the fact that at least three mediumsized operators have been less co-operative than we would have liked and this has led to them being referred to the relevant Traffic Commissioner. This latter, however, represents an interesting new dimension to the BAB process: in the three cases the Traffic Commissioner has called In-Chambers Meetings with the operators and stressed that failure to implement BAB Decisions is considered to affect adversely the ‘repute’ of operators. Once again most cases were found in favour of the appellant. Just three were found in favour of the operator, and two found fault on both sides.
Bus Appeals Body cases 2005-2011 Issues dealt with by Bus Appeals Body, 2011 These are small numbers so not too much should be drawn from these statistics (see analysis of all complaints referred to Bus Users UK in the Bus Users UK Annual Report). Staff attitude is the largest category nonetheless, of drivers and also of staff dealing with complaints. Buses not stopping or turning up at all come second.
NB: some cases refer to more than one issue and two included the non-standard ‘other’ category; figures shown exclude six cases withdrawn before decision and the ‘others’. No of cases dealt with by Bus Appeals Body, 2005-2011
Bus Appeals Body issues 2011
Footnote: The Welsh Assembly Government requires Bus Users UK Cymru to take on any complaint referred immediately, whether or not the complainant has approached the bus company. In England, Bus Users UK will engage with referrals that have had no bus company involvement, but does not classify such issues as a complaint until the bus company has had a chance to deal with it and been found wanting by the complainant. The total number of complaints recorded in Wales does not, thus, compare exactly with the number recorded in England. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
