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Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [HL]

It gives me pleasure to support the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield. I have not so far received notice of the grouping of amendments in an accessible form. I intend no criticism but I wish the Committee to be aware of this in case I trip up over the grouping of amendments. We are working with the authorities of the House to find ways of ensuring that I get papers of this kind in time before debates. I am sure that any problems that remain will be resolved shortly but I wish the Committee to be aware of that circumstance before we go any further. I do not wish to speak at great length because the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, has covered many of the points I want to make. I wish to stress that bus travel should not be seen as separate from the rest of the transport network but as part of an integrated system which is always going to be as weak as its weakest link. Thus, if part of a journey involves a mode of transport on which no concession is available, the purpose in granting the concession substantially fails or, at least, is substantially undermined. This group of amendments, particularly Amendments Nos. 3, 28 and 30 in relation to London, therefore provides that concessions should be available on trains, Underground trains, trams and ferries, all of which can play a part in meeting the transport needs of an area. As the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, said, in Scotland many ferry journeys are covered by the concessionary fares scheme in recognition of the local transport services that ferries provide between the Scottish islands and the mainland. We would want to encourage the same approach for similar services throughout the UK. Similarly, as regards London, Amendments Nos. 3, 28 and 30 seek to substitute ““London Transport Network”” for ““London bus network”” to cover all modes of transport which exist to meet the transport needs of Londoners. We all know that the Tube is just as important as the buses in meeting the transport needs of the capital, and rail and light railway services also play an important part. On Amendment No. 4 and corresponding amendments in relation to London, at Second Reading the Minister stressed the role of the Bill in combating social exclusion. He said, "““The Government recognise that buses are particularly important for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They often provide a vital lifeline to services such as shops, leisure facilities and hospitals and are an important connection to the community””." He went on, "““We recognise that the places to which people need to travel are no respecters of sometimes arbitrary local authority boundaries””.—[Official Report, 12/12/06; col. 1453.]" I suggest that they are also no respecters of arbitrary time zones. If social inclusion of those who are most disadvantaged in our community is the goal, we have to enable them to travel at the same times as others want to travel to work, to shop or to the hospital. Hospitals do not have regard to concessionary travel schemes when making appointments. The restriction of concessionary travel during the morning peak period has a number of untoward consequences. As the Government have improved the minimum concessionary fare scheme for older and disabled people, some local authorities have curtailed schemes that previously offered more than the statutory minimum; for example, some schemes which provided free morning peak travel for blind people and other old and disabled people have come under pressure. As the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, said, when the matter arose in London, following representations by disable people the scheme was levelled up and free travel was extended to all disabled people in the morning peak as well as at other times. At Second Reading, the Minister laid great stress on the fact that there are acute pinch points in transport usage at peak hours in many parts of the country. I can say only that there have been no time restrictions on using the Freedom Pass during the morning peak in London since April 2003. That has not caused difficulties, despite the huge pressure on public transport at that time in the capital. We would probably all find it difficult to envisage any part of the country with more acute pinch points than London, yet this does not seem to have presented any particular problem. The noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, has covered most of the points I wanted to make, but in conclusion I want to underline a point which he stressed; namely, the importance of concessionary travel schemes in helping disabled people to get to work. If they are to be effective, they need to be available at peak times no less than at off-peak times. The importance of that in the Bill is the way in which it underlines the Government’s welfare-to-work agenda. It could be of material assistance in helping disabled people off welfare and into work if concessionary travel were available to them at peak times no less than at off-peak times. I support this group of amendments.