Which then relies on the commercial operator actually wanting to make the change. If they're taking a bus off a public route to run a school contract, they won't necessarily have a spare vehicle and driver to fill in the gap. While the W7 is contracted, I wouldn't imagine Stagecoach would give up their contracted college service in order to provide longer hours for the Winsford local, even if the council offered them money for doing it.
Not only did Cheshire East and Cheshire West lose out in that bidding. Warrington's successful bid meant one cross-border was actually cut back as the result of changes made from BSIP funding! That was the 47 that included 3 return workings to High Legh and 2 extending to Knutsford. It's now a revised route with a much higher frequency but only in the Warrington borough. While Cheshire East have a bit of funding freed up from their contribution to the old 47, it's not really enough to offer much in the form of an ITT and a Knutsford to High Legh shuttle would be less viable, without any through journeys to Warrington being made.
Arriva have pulled out of almost everywhere in the North West! However, they haven't pulled out of Cheshire completely. They still have depots in the Chester and Runcorn areas. Unlike Stagecoach they've opted against running any public services in Winsford, Northwich and Crewe from a Chester area base. (Stagecoach operated the 48 Northwich-Frodsham before D&G won the most recent contract award). I haven't checked but when I asked about the school services Arriva operated from the Winsford depot, the response I got was they'll continue to run them from Runcorn. I don't know if that was confirmed and if they are still doing that.
I also don't think a big operator pulling out is automatically the sign of a bad bus terriority, especially considering Stagecoach have purchased depots from First Bus in both Greater Manchester and Cheshire. And didn't Arriva buy a Stagecoach depot in Yorkshire at one point?
I believe the Winsford depot needed a lot of work doing on it and the Macclesfield depot was treated as an outstation of Winsford, which was a major factor in them both being declared unviable by Arriva.
Cheshire councils have increased their taxes by the maximum allowed by the government every year. They've also delegated some services (like public toilets) to newly formed town councils so the town council can add a premium on to council tax for services, which isn't covered by the government cap.
I would actually say the two Labour led councils of Cheshire West and Cheshire East would be in favour of getting more funding in for transport overall. However, it's difficult to increase the proportion spent on buses when the roads are in such a bad state, and I suppose roads full of potholes don't attract bus operators to put in cheap bids for tenders, as they'll need to factor in vehicle potentially needing attention more frequently.
