Is a row looming over how Greater Manchester's new Bee buses will be paid for?

Greater Manchester's new Bee Network launched in a blaze of publicity on Sunday as the region became the first in England to bring buses back under public control since deregulation in the 1980s.

The initial £134m costs through to 2025 are being paid for by Greater Manchester. The cash is coming through a mixture of mayoral precept rises, contributions from councils, devolved budgets and contributions from business rates.

After that Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham wants the Government to chip in. But if that's not forthcoming, he's floated the idea of using the 'tourist tax' to pay for the bus network.

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He told the Financial Times if ministers don't 'fully meet our requirements' then extra tax-raising powers must be granted, adding: "If it has to be a bit of a mix of some central funding and some local funding, well we're not averse to that.

"But you can't deny both basically. The obvious one would be some form of tourist tax."

But that looks likely to be met with opposition at Manchester town hall. Speaking last week at an event organised by think-tank the Resolution Foundation council leader Bev Craig dismissed the idea of using the tourist tax to fund the region's fleet of new yellow buses.

She said: "It shouldn't be something that is subsidising a transport network, it shouldn't be subsidising basic infrastructure. It should be something based on additionality."