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Concessionary Bus Fares

The hon. Gentleman raises the point that I am making in a different way. The main target for bus companies in their business plans is how to increase their grant. That is the most effective way for them to get money to their bottom line. They are not looking to provide a good public service and that worries me. I am concerned that we will end up in the same situation as we had with the railway companies six or seven years ago, when public expenditure on the railways was completely out of control. To deal with that situation, the Government introduced the Railways Act 2005, which got rid of the Strategic Rail Authority and provided some control over public expenditure. I am asking for a fair grant distribution system that allows the money to go where it will be used. That is best done by having a safety net and money held back that can be paid to Blackpool, Manchester, York or wherever there are extra traveller journeys. We also need to guard public sector interests. I look forward to my hon. Friend’s response to the points that I have made, whether it is given in this debate, in writing, or on Second Reading of the Concessionary Bus Travel Bill. The drive behind the Bill is good and it has good ideas, so I do not want to see it ruined by a bus industry that wants to make huge profits at the expense of the public purse.