Recommendation 19

The Department should expand the Bus Centre of Excellence (BCoE) to include a dedicated support strand for rural and other local transport authorities which may struggle to implement franchising successfully within their current capacity. This strand should focus on building local capacity by providing access to legal and procurement advice and establishing embedded regional advisory teams. The BCoE should also help reduce administrative burdens by developing standardised templates for key documents such as data-sharing and non-disclosure agreements and offer training in the commercial and operational aspects of running bus services. (Recommendation, Paragraph 74) 49