Brighton and Hove City Council is seeking to bring local bus services under its direct management to prevent substantial sums from flowing to external investors.
The Labour-controlled authority intends to submit a funding bid to the government for a franchising feasibility study, a system that would grant the council considerably more authority over routes, schedules and pricing.
The chief executive of Brighton and Hove Buses expressed support for maintaining collaborative relationships, stating that ongoing partnership remains the optimal path for delivering improvements to the public.
Currently, the primary bus company serving the city is Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company, handling most local services. It operates as part of the Go-Ahead Group, one of Britain’s largest transport firms, running a fleet of approximately 300 buses from three sites located in Conway Street, Whitehawk and Lewes Road.
Metrobus, also owned by Go-Ahead, provides connections between Brighton and destinations including Crawley and East Grinstead. Stagecoach and Compass Travel additionally run services within the city boundaries.
The Big Lemon, an independent Brighton-based company recognised for its electric bus fleet, previously operated subsidised routes but discontinued these public services in 2025.
Under the existing arrangement, private operators determine their own routes, pricing and timetables while the council provides funding to lower certain fares, boost frequency on particular services and support routes that would otherwise fail commercially. Despite this, council officials maintain that substantial sums depart the city annually through operator profits.
A franchising system would enable the council to determine bus destinations, service frequency and ticket pricing, with revenue channelled back into service enhancements rather than private dividends.
The timing follows the Labour administration’s Bus Services Act 2025, which empowered all English local transport authorities to franchise services without requiring ministerial sign-off, representing a major shift from earlier regulations. Officials contend this presents an opportunity to address what they characterise as consequences of bus deregulation implemented during the 1980s.
Council Leader Bella Sankey indicated the authority is progressing swiftly with its funding application. She expressed approval for the government’s effort to dismantle the previous deregulation framework and stated her eagerness to investigate whether public management could work for Brighton and Hove. She noted the city possesses an impressive bus network with passenger figures among the highest nationally and that the council currently collaborates with operators to drive improvements, though it continually assesses alternatives given the substantial financial outflows to shareholders. She also highlighted the financial strain facing residents and how bus companies continue raising fares.
The authority outlined several potential advantages of franchising: services tailored to community requirements covering educational, medical and employment sites; standardised, transparent ticket pricing; integrated network functioning rather than fragmented competing operators; fare income reinvested into service enhancements; and improved coordination with surrounding Sussex areas.
The council must lodge its initial proposal with the Department for Transport by April 8. Should the application succeed, a study would assess whether franchising could function effectively in the city and how it might operate in practice. Securing funding would allow the feasibility study to gather information to determine if franchising suits Brighton and Hove, though no definitive choice has been reached and this would represent merely an initial stage of a potentially extended process.
Rupert Cox, interim managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses, commented that the company acknowledges the council’s entitlement to investigate franchising. He pointed to the longstanding partnership and collaborative approach that has produced the highest per-capita bus usage outside London, with consistent growth over many years. The company has committed £50 million over the past three years to bus infrastructure locally and maintains that continued partnership working offers the best route to delivering additional benefits for residents.