Yeah, I'm not certain that is enshrined in any legislation. There was, IIRC, a view from a select committee that reckoned that as you were free to set up any service, there was no inherent goodwill value that could be attributed. However, two things:
- They were marking their own homework so that wasn't a totally unexpected conclusion and...
- Working on that premise, you can virtually nationalise anything on that basis
- Anyone can open a corner shop so you can nationalise Tesco Express by buying the premises, stock, transfer staff, but have no regard for goodwill
It's prescient given this week's CBI's assessment of the nationalisation of areas such as utilities. They said "the confidence of international investors in the UK would be severely hit should Labour refuse to pay full market value for the industries."
That's true, we should have due regard for the genuine worth of a business. In constructing a cost benefit analysis, both the cost and the benefits should be accurate and realistic! The CBI weren't as the costs were arguably overstated (ignoring the rail stock issue) because of how the value of utilities and the underlying covenant of the government affects that, and the benefits (in revenue generation) are also open to question.
Giving the operator simply the value of their property really is nationalisation on the cheap, and that's not good for business confidence.
you don't need to look very far TGW; this is section 1 of the 1985 Act;
" Abolition of road service licensing.
(1)The provisions of Part III of the 1981 Act (road service licences) shall cease to have effect.
(2)Those provisions are replaced—
(a)in relation to London local services, by Part II of this Act; and
(b)in relation to other local services, by sections 6 to 9 of this Act.
(3)Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of making amendments in other enactments consequential on this section."
Since 1930, stage carriage of the general public had been restricted to persons holding 'road service licenses'. This created, for any incumbent operator, an asset value in holding such a licence; an asset that could be shown on a balance sheet, and sold on if need be. To run a route, you needed a licence; but once an operator had a licence for a route, no non-licensed competitor could pick up or set down passengers on stages along that route. In 1981, this licensing had been substantially relaxed in respect of express and inter-urban bus transport (and there was provision for pilot schemes in which multiple operators could be licensed along the same route) but the essential restriction remained in place for stage bus services in towns.
Of course, a high proportion of these asset values were, by the 1980s, vested in local authority transport undertakings; which made them prime targets for central government financial appropriation. The Thatcher government had found that an easy way to balance the books of national government was to plunder the assets of local authorities, and sell them commercially. Local transport undertakings were rich in land and other assets, and crucially had no legal status to challenge such actions in the courts.
In effect the 1985 Act abolished all road service licenses, and hence nationalised the asset values of all rights to operate stage carriage services along particular routes, without compensation; incumbent operators being allowed to instead to register their existing routes, knowing that any (suitably qualfied) competitor might, in the future, register a service covering the same stages on the same route. The operators might have challenged this loss of assets without compensation at the time; but did not, as they were reckoning to gain overall from the forced disposal of publicly owned transport undertakings.
) that it really does point to depot based packages. Split out smaller packages (e.g. Leigh or Rochdale) and again, leaves a bit of a gap in an existing depot location.