AN INVERCLYDE transport boss has warned that plans for bus franchises would be a 'ferry fiasco on stilts'.

Businessman Sandy Easdale, who runs McGills with his brother James, has attacked the Scottish Government and the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) over the issue.

SPT officials are currently investigating whether to introduce a 'franchising' scheme for bus services in Strathclyde, similar to one in place in Manchester since last year and in London since the mid-1990s.

Mr Easdale says that the government and the agencies are 'full of people who have no clue about either business or transport'  - and who 'did not care in the slightest about squandering taxpayers’ hard-earned money'.

He says that following the problems with the two Ferguson ferries, history is set to repeat itself.

Mr Easdale said: "The Scottish Government and its agencies are filled with people who have no idea about business or transport.

"That includes politicians and senior leadership at these agencies. They have consistently shown they don’t care about wasting hard-earned taxpayers’ money on projects that spiral out of control.

“The latest news that they are cannibalising parts from one unfinished ferry to get another one running is a perfect symbol of how disastrous this whole situation has become.

"It’s a shambles, pure and simple. I have real sympathy for those who are currently running the yard at Ferguson Marine who have inherited a shambles not of their making.

“The seeds of this go all the way back to the decision-making under the SNP and Jim McColl.

"We looked at the yard when it was in administration and decided not to go ahead as we didn’t feel we had the sector expertise we needed to drive it forward.

"Others such as SNP politicians, McColl – and their aides in agencies such as Transport Scotland - clearly felt they knew better and we’re all now paying the price.

"It is unbelievably arrogant to believe that you know more about a sector such as shipbuilding than those who have decades of experience.

"It’s a scandal, but no one will be held accountable.”

Mr Easdale added that history is about to repeat itself with bus franchising in Strathclyde – only the financial pain for taxpayers may be far, far worse than the ferry fiasco.

Sandy added: “What is proposed for bus franchising in Strathclyde is like a ferry fiasco on stilts.

"The same basic issues exist whereby politicians and quangos of unelected officials, all of whom have no business experience or knowledge of operating a bus company, propose spending huge sums of taxpayers' cash to fulfil their political fantasies rather than living in the real world.

“SPT published its wish list for franchising and we got experts to add up the prospective costs which run to £400 million, each and every year, to be funded by the taxpayer.

“In a private business such as ours, we’d look at how we could finance a project and if we couldn’t, what needed to change to make it a commercial reality.

“SPT has instead just ignored this £400m per annum cost and chosen to plough ahead regardless knowing that their councillors and officials will never be held to account for their own decisions.”

An SPT spokesperson said: “SPT is currently looking at options for the future of the regional bus network in the west of Scotland. This includes, but is not limited to, a franchising model. 

"Our priority is developing a bus network that ensures bus is a viable, affordable and reliable form of transport to both bus users and non-bus users which adequately connects our communities.

“As we develop the strategy for the future, we will be consulting widely with a variety of stakeholders including local authorities, bus operators and, of course, the public before any final decision is made. 

"The Strategy development process remains on track.  We have been clear all along that any decision will of course need to consider a robust financial business case and funding strategy.”

Transport Scotland spokesperson said: "Over the last 5 years, McGill’s have received almost £213 million in public funding, with over £134.9 million from reimbursement for carrying concessionary passengers through the National Concessionary Travel Schemes , £59.2 million to support bus services, and £18.6 million in capital funding to support purchase of electric vehicles.

“The Scottish Government has now delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to enable local transport authorities to consider all the powers available to them, including partnership working, franchising and local authority run services which sit alongside their ability to subsidise services. The bus provisions in the 2019 Act empower local transport authorities with the flexible tools they need to respond to their own transport challenges and we welcome SPT’s decision to explore all available bus powers as part of their Strathclyde Regional Bus Strategy.

"We encourage all local transport authorities to consider the full range of tools available to them under the 2019 Act, to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport regardless of where they are in Scotland. It is the decision for each local transport authority to determine which powers are suitable to improve services in their specific area."