A Lanarkshire council should look to take control of the region's bus services, an MSP has claimed.
Clare Haughey, who represents Rutherglen, has called for South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) to take advantage of recent changes to the Transport (Scotland) Act, which will enable local authorities to extra power to run bus services as they see fit.
Ms Haughey has now written to SLC leader Joe Fagan to ask what the regional body intend to do, while the subject was also discussed at the council's executive meeting this week.
The SNP MSP told Lanarkshire Live : "Bus services are vital to the people of Rutherglen and Cambuslang to travel for work, education, health and to go shopping, but they are also an essential tool in our response to the climate emergency.
"That is why it is welcome that the SNP Scottish Government is rolling out these powers to local authorities across the country, including SLC, to ensure we have a bus service that is fit for purpose and responds to local transport challenges.
"Scotland’s bus network is being further revitalised through £500m in long-term funding for bus priority infrastructure, coupled with the roll out of free bus travel to under 22s."
In her letter to Councillor Fagan, Ms Haughey asked: "I would be grateful if you could outline whether SLC has any plans to utilise these new powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, including, for example, through running their own bus service or opting for a partnership or franchise approach."
Lanarkshire Live understands that the council will respond in due course, however the issue was brought up in a meeting this week, in which Councillor Fagan claimed extra funding would be required from the Scottish Government to make the bus plans feasible.
"These new bus laws do very little unless councils are fully funded to bring local bus networks back under control and guarantee minimum levels of service.
"We have the authority to run municipal bus services from the SNP Government but they are still depriving us of the means."
A SLC spokesman said: "The new powers under the Transport (Scotland) Act are noted, and these will be considered by the council."
*Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here .
And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Why not head to our page and give us a like and share.
