Yes, I would agree that they are under review.  First does seem to be an information-savvy company and is gatehring data to make its operation more profitable all the time.  The idea of the system that's in place is that profit comes from traffic flows and that usually works, but it fails in many cases such as (it seems) the late night Newbury service which is more of an economic service to the area served than a profit maker for the operator.

The Service Level Contract is supposed to provide a safety net, but it has been written so weakly that many of the evening social services can be cut - Newbury is NOT unique - and one has to wonder if the author was more concerned to allow the successful bidder to give the government as much money as possible rather than safguarding residents of the Shires.