Asked by
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide
longer-term support to the local bus sector.
The Minister of State, Department for Transport ( of Richmond Hill) (Lab)
The Government are determined to deliver better bus services. We
are setting out an action plan allowing every community the
opportunity to take back control of local bus services to deliver
improvements for passengers and giving local leaders more control
and flexibility over bus funding to deliver their local transport
priorities for growth, jobs and housing. We will consider how
best to support buses in the longer term as part of the
forthcoming spending review.
(Lab)
I am grateful to my noble friend for that Answer. He has long
experience in the bus industry. Would he look, in particular, at
the problem of rural bus services, which on the whole do not get
much visibility? He may know of a very good one in Cornwall;
buses go every half hour, with cheap fares. How will he ensure
that the whole country benefits? Will the funding be there and
will it be ring-fenced? Will the Government encourage or force
local authorities to pick up their offer?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The proposition for local authorities and communities throughout
the country is to take advantage of the proposals that the
Government will table, which will ensure the right solutions for
each area. My noble friend knows that the bus service in Cornwall
is particularly well organised; it is not franchised but is
subject to a large degree of local authority control. Consistency
of information, ticketing, fares and service standards is an
important feature, wherever in the country buses operate.
of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, will the Minister, whom I congratulate on his new
position, pay tribute to rural bus services such as those in
North Yorkshire? If the bus arrangements transfer back to the
local authorities, will he ensure that the funds will follow the
responsibility for, in particular, concessionary bus fares, which
are so important for older people in rural areas?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness for her compliment. I hope the House
will see it repaid in what I do. Concessionary bus fare funding
will, without any doubt, follow the control of bus services, and
that will be as important in North Yorkshire as it will be
everywhere else in the country.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister will be fully aware from his extensive
experience how much young people in London benefit from free bus
travel. Unfortunately, in the rest of the country the picture is
different—it is very patchy and uneven. Does the Minister agree
that there is a strong argument for a standard system of highly
reduced or free bus fares for young people across the country, to
help them into jobs, apprenticeships and education, to create a
fairer society and to create a new generation of bus
travellers?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The noble Baroness will recognise the important ability of the
Mayor of London to fund cheap and free fares for young people.
The opportunity that the Government's franchising proposals will
give is that other local authority leaders and combined authority
mayors will also have the ability to fund fare concessions for
the purposes that she mentions.
(Con)
My Lords, the Minister is right to emphasise the importance of
bus services, particularly for the elderly. I speak as somebody
who has reached pension age. In that light, and given the
Government's, shall we say, cavalier attitude to pensioners that
we have seen on display, can he give an unshakeable commitment
that the Government will maintain the national bus pass and the
statutory freedom pass scheme in London? Or is there the
possibility that they too could find themselves subject to means
testing?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
At my age, I share the noble Lord's enthusiasm for the freedom
pass scheme. He is attempting to put me in the invidious position
of making a concrete commitment for all time. The freedom pass,
and the local authority and national scheme for free travel for
pensioners, has lasted a long time and we would all hope that it
continues into the future. The Government are not in a good
position with the state of public finances they have been left
with, but we will bear in mind his enthusiasm, and that of many
others, for free travel for elderly people on buses as we move
forward with our commitments for the bus service.
(Lab)
My Lords, in addition to the work that my noble friend is doing
with buses, we will soon hear about the Great British Railways
changes, with Ministers taking much greater control of the
railways. Does this not provide an opportunity for some proper
timetabling, so that when a bus arrives at a station there is a
train soon ready to go, rather than one that has just left, which
happens in so many parts of the country at the moment?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that question. It is a subject that
has engaged the bus and railway industries for generations. In
fact, it is more likely that the bus will have to alter its
timetable to suit the railway, because the railways are a
national, integrated system, but he is right to suggest that the
opportunity arises as a consequence of the Government's proposals
for Great British Railways and for buses as part of a more
integrated public transport service across the entire country.
The Government will do their best to make sure those
opportunities are built on.
(Con)
My Lords, my colleagues and I are concerned about the amount of
pollution which diesel buses in particular present. We used to
have trams and vehicles that were run on electricity. Can the
Minister confirm what the Government are doing to encourage
better environmental standards in buses and other means of public
transport?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The programme to reduce emissions from the bus fleet has been
carried out by successive Governments over many years. There is
no doubt at all that government intervention has created both
cleaner diesel buses, which now meet that Euro 6 standard, and an
increasing fleet of electric buses, which are the modern
equivalent of tram-cars. This Government hope to continue that,
subject to funding, because it is clearly a very important
contribution to air quality in urban and other areas.
(CB)
My Lords, while we talk about support for buses, I think we ought
also to talk about support for bus safety. I quote the BBC
website from this morning:
“At present there is no independent investigator and no
independent recommendations when it comes to bus collisions. The
families want to know why there is one policy for trains and
another for buses”.
Perhaps the Minister could comment on that.
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
It is clearly critical that bus services and buses should be
safe. The DVSA, which is an agency of the Department for
Transport, does look at serious bus accidents. It can deal with
the drivers and the operators of those vehicles, and take into
account whether standards should be changed for bus design.
of North Oxford
(Con)
My Lords, for many of those dependent on buses, whether they are
travelling to work or to hospital appointments, lateness can have
a real impact. Can the Minister say what actions he will take to
improve real-time tracking of buses?
of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The technology for real-time tracking has changed enormously in
20 years. One of the opportunities for franchising, which is part
of the Government's programme for bus services, is to provide
consistent real-time information. It is important. It is quite
clear that, where that information is provided—which is not
limited to signs on bus stops; it can also be accessed on mobile
phones and at home—patronage increases, so we have every
enthusiasm for increasing it. The proposals on bus franchising
will enable it to be more easily supplied where bus franchising
takes place.
