Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Berkeley (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 24 October 2006.

Transport: Buses

Question: My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that Answer. Does he agree that the problem outside London is that local authorities contribute sometimes quite large sums of money to subsidise bus services but have no control over service provision or charges? I welcome the latest review on buses. The Secretary of State for Transport recently said that there would possibly be some legislation in the next Session. Will my noble friend ensure that one of the options in the review will be for local authorities to franchise bus services, rather as they do trains? That would not only bring in competition but enable local authorities to have some control of where and when buses go and how much the charges are.

Answer: My Lords, I am aware that my noble friend takes a keen interest in these issues. I assure him that formal franchise will be looked at seriously. He will recognise that local authorities have access at present to quality contracts, although on the whole they have not taken those up, because they have regarded the legislative constraints as being too onerous. We are looking at that matter.

Secondary information