Costs mount as bus shelter delay confirmed

A delay in rolling out new bus shelters across York (the latest chapter in what Liberal Democrat councillors are calling a “bus shelter shambles”) will lead to increased costs for council taxpayers could and should have been avoided, according to York’s Liberal Democrat councillors. 

At a meeting next week the Labour Executive Member for Finance will be asked to approve a ten-month extension to an agreement with the current bus shelter supplier, JC Decaux, under which they will continue to maintain old shelters whilst new shelters are installed by the new supplier, Bauer Media. 

In 2024 the council’s Labour administration tried to bypass a competitive tender process and simply award a new contract to JC Decaux. But an intervention by Liberal Democrat councillors revealed that the proposed contract approach was likely to be unlawful, which led to a u-turn by the administration. 

The new bus shelter contract should have delivered income to the council of £500,000 in 2026/27, but instead council taxpayers will be hit with a cost of £150,000 due to the council’s failure to complete the implementation of the new contract by 31 December 2025 as intended. Labour’s mismanagement now means that over £1 million has been stripped out of York’s frontline services. 

In August 2025 it became apparent that all was not well when a number of shelters in Dringhouses, Westfield, Copmanthorpe and Wigginton were removed without warning, leaving bus passengers exposed to the elements. New shelters are now belatedly being installed at these locations, and the process of removing old and installing new shelters at other locations has now begun. 

Lib Dem Group Leader, Cllr Nigel Ayre, has called for the Executive Member for Finance, Cllr Katie Lomas, to apologise for the council’s failure to properly manage the transition to the new bus shelter contract. 

“It was clear in early 2024 that the administration did not have a grip on this issue when it was revealed that in attempting to avoid a competitive tender process they were likely in breach of contract law, which only came to light thanks to the decision being ‘called in’ by Liberal Democrat councillors.

“We hoped that lessons would be learned from that episode and that the implementation of the new contract would go smoothly, but instead we’ve ended up with a full-blown bus shelter shambles. 

“As a result, there’s an additional cost to council taxpayers of £150,000 and a loss of over £1million from lost income hitting our frontline services. 

“It’s inevitable that there’ll be some snagging issues when you are undertaking a bus shelter renewal programme, but it’s clear that council officers haven’t been given the resources and support they need to properly oversee this process. 

“At a meeting of the council’s Place Scrutiny Committee earlier this week it became painfully apparent that hard working and diligent Transport officers are not being given the support they need to do all of the things that need doing, such as establishing a replacement for the city’s Dial & Ride community transport service which collapsed almost two years ago. 

“The Labour administration needs to get a grip, and quickly, or there is a risk of more missed deadlines and service failures which will cost money and leave residents frustrated.”