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Local Transport Bill [HL]

My Lords, the Government in this House support the Bill with exactly the same degree of enthusiasm as they supported it in the other House—there is no difference between our positions here and there. As was the case in the House of Commons, so here. We pay tribute to the entrepreneurial zeal and public service commitment of so many of our bus operators, in precisely the way that my noble friend Lord Snape would wish us to do. They make a great contribution to public transport in this country and we need them to make a greater contribution in the coming years. We recognise, as my noble friend said, that in a good many areas buses are doing well—London, mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, being a case in point, where we have seen a welcome transformation for the better in the pattern of bus service usage in recent years. As I said earlier, in some areas buses are not doing as well as we would wish. There are many reasons for that. I recognise the importance of addressing congestion, which the noble Lord mentioned. It is because of these issues that we need to address that we brought forward the provisions in the Bill. My noble friend Lord Snape’s overriding concern is that the Government should stand by their commitment to protect the legitimate commercial interests of bus operators. We absolutely stand by that commitment. The amendments I am speaking to in this group are designed precisely to ensure that appropriate safeguards are preserved in the interests of bus operators. First, the amendments retain a clear role for independent scrutiny of a local authority’s proposals. That scrutiny will take place after the authority has concluded its public consultation process. This is important because it ensures that the quality contract scheme boards can take full account of any concerns raised by operators during the consultation process. Secondly, the amendments retain the five public interest criteria already set out in the Bill. These include a requirement that any adverse effects on operators must be proportionate to the benefits of the scheme, which is a crucial safeguard for operators. Thirdly, the amendments retain a right of appeal to the Transport Tribunal. To deal with my noble friend Lord Snape’s Amendments Nos. 44A and 69A in more detail, the first, on a public interest test, would require QCS boards to consider proposed schemes not only against the five statutory criteria already in the Bill, but also against a more general test of the public interest. The five criteria in the Bill already provide appropriate benchmarks against which any scheme should be judged, and are designed to provide clarity about how the public interest is to be assessed. They require an authority to show that the proposed scheme will, first, increase bus patronage; secondly, will benefit passengers; thirdly, will contribute to the implementation of the authority’s local transport policies; and, fourthly, will do so in a way that is economic, efficient and effective. In essence, this means that the scheme must deliver value for money which, in turn, means that the authority needs to take account of all of the costs and benefits likely to arise from the scheme. The crucial safeguard for bus operators is the fifth criterion: that any adverse effects on bus operators, both inside and outside the scheme area, must be proportionate to the benefits arising from the scheme. These five criteria make plain, in somewhat more detail than a general public interest criterion, what requirements a scheme needs to fulfil and what questions a QCS board needs to consider. They meet my noble friend’s concerns and the legitimate interests of bus operators.