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Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [HL]

My Lords, I hear what the noble Lord says. That is not a representation that we have been receiving widely on the issue. In fact, weare still working on the premise that the last thingthat local authorities want is to be tied down by hypothecated funding schemes. Concessionary fares are an important issue and I am delighted that the noble Lord is treating them with the great seriousness that he is. As he said, this is only a part of even his overall transport budget, let alone of the total expenditure of his local authority and the obligations that it must meet. I am surprised that he is arguing that the Bill should introduce a hypothecated fund. I hear what the noble Lord says. I must say that issues of local government finance are rather wide of my immediate brief, but the Government do not share that perspective, nor are the present discussions on settlements premised on the assumption that the legislation should have a hypothecated element. The noble Lord will forgive me if I am slightly leery of that argument. The Secretary of State anyway has the power to fund local authority concessionary fares via direct grant if he wishes. If a local authority puts up a case that shows how it can constructively extend the scheme and persuades the Secretary of State of its virtues, that power exists. It would be inappropriate to require in the Bill the use of a funding mechanism in perpetuity in circumstances where we have not discussed the matter with any of the organisations with whom we consulted on the Bill.