A minister has called for a resolution to the “devastating” strike that has paralysed dozens of bus services across the North East.

Workers at Go North East began an indefinite walkout on Saturday, having overwhelmingly rejected a pay deal aimed at averting the shutdown.

It has meant that all services run by the company, which describes itself as the biggest bus operator in the region, are cancelled until further notice.

Richard Holden, the minister for local transport, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he believed transport bosses and the Unite union were not “a million miles apart” in their negotiations and that “there is a deal to be done”.

The Northern Echo: A Go North East busA Go North East bus (Image: GO NORTH EAST)

The Conservative MP for North West Durham, whose constituency includes areas like Consett and Lanchester that have lost bus services due to the industrial action, said he thought the two parties had been “very close” to a deal last week and that there “surely has to be some common ground” to resolve the strike.

Go North East had offered a 10.3 per cent pay rise, plus a guaranteed above-inflation pay increase next year too, but that proposal was rejected by 81 per cent of workers who took part in a union ballot last week.

Unite has pressed for a 13 per cent increase, but has also complained that drivers at Go North West currently earn an hourly wage more than 20 per cent higher than their North East counterparts.

Speaking as the Government confirmed that a £2 fare cap on bus journeys in England would be extended to the end of 2024, Mr Holden said: “I am doing everything I can to ensure the bus sector gets the support it needs.

"That is also going to require goodwill from people on all sides and for operators and the unions to come together and sort this out.

"I don’t want to see damage to the sector just as it is starting to get back on its feet after Covid, and especially when the Government is doing everything it can in terms of fare caps and extra support as well.”

Asked if the Department for Transport could step in to help local authorities provide emergency bus services for areas left cut-off during the strike, the Tory minister added: “In the immediate term, the quickest way to get around this is for the union and the operator to get together – whether that is negotiating themselves or through Acas to get that sorted out. 

“The quickest way to sort this out is by getting a resolution between the union and Go North East. I am sure there is a deal to be done there. I want to see our buses thriving in the North East and I think the best way to do that is for them to come together.

“I don’t think they are a million miles away from each other. I think a 12-week strike would be devastating for the bus sector and would do long-term damage, I don’t want to see that.

“I want to see people coming together in the interests of bus users, many of whom are elderly and on concessionary fares, many of whom are in low-paid work – I don’t want to see them suffer.

“What I want to see is the union and Go North East, who I don’t think are a million miles apart, coming together to get a sensible deal for the future.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham last week accused Go North East of “betraying” its staff due to “stubbornness, refusing to pay a decent wage to their workers”.

Go North East business director Ben Maxfield said the operator was “baffled” by the overwhelming ‘no’ vote and that the company had met “each and every one” of the union’s demands.

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The latest round of industrial action follows two week-long strikes earlier this month and has resulted in all Go North East services, aside from contracted school routes, being cancelled for an indefinite period.

Under the law, workers taking industrial action have legal protection for 12 weeks – after which they can be dismissed. As Unite members at Go North East began their first strike week on September 30, that 12-week period would end on December 22.

The cap on the price of single bus journeys in England had been due to rise to £2.50, with the Government paying for that using money redirected from the scrapping of HS2’s northern leg.

Mr Holden said the fare limit had played a “significant role” in getting bus usage outside of London to pre-pandemic levels.