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Local Transport Bill [HL] Bill

moved Amendment No. 11: 11: Clause 9, page 11, line 34, at end insert— ““(2C) In preparing their local transport plan, the authority may create a bus partnership scheme. (2D) Under a bus partnership scheme guidelines shall be agreed and consensus sought on bus routes, frequencies, fares and other matters for the period of the local transport plan. (2E) In constructing a bus partnership scheme, the authority shall consult all operators of registered services in the specified area. (2F) In exercising their statutory functions under the Town and Country Planning Acts, the local planning authority shall have regard to the bus partnership scheme and guidance contained therein.””.”” The noble Lord said: The local transport plan is a useful exercise for local authorities in planning their future transport requirements, as we have just been discussing. It allows a full appraisal of all concerns to take place within a local transport area. As the Bill is principally enabling and seeks to encourage authorities to take up quality partnership approaches, I am certain that noble Lords will agree that having a discussion about such schemes with stakeholders in advance of implementation will prove beneficial. The amendment would allow a local authority, if it so wished, to produce a bus partnership scheme. Such a document could prove very useful in gaining a consensus on the best way to approach a quality partnership network and agree preliminary information on bus routes, frequencies, fares and other matters. I am certain that the transparency this could bring would well serve the implementation of an agreed scheme. It would enable long-term planning without the need for quality contracts. The role of the Bus Passenger Committee proposed elsewhere in the Bill could be substantiated by its involvement in producing a bus partnership scheme. I beg to move.