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Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [HL]

Before the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, comes back, I have a request for the Minister, who has given some fairly positive indications on this matter. As I said, there is a lot of work going on, particularly in the large local authorities—for example, in London—on smartcards and IT development. We all accept this will take time to develop. We have all been involved in technology, and we know we cannot always deliver quite as quickly as we might like; schemes do not always get off the ground quickly. But as we take the Bill through different processes, it would be helpful if, before Report, the Minister could say that the Government will work with local authorities to see what is going on. We have come back to this question about the Secretary of State. That might have an effect on how the noble Lord and I react at a later stage. That work could be utilised and capitalised on to develop a national scheme, which we all support, rather than saying that we will start all over again. I am sure the Minister’s civil servants are talking to local authorities, and it would be useful to co-ordinate and pull all that work together.