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UK Coach Industry

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the future of the UK coach industry.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. A couple of years ago, I was invited to speak at the conference of the Coach Operators Association. Being a reasonably diligent MP, I checked how many mentions of “coach” there had been in that parliamentary Session. There were rather more than I expected. Delving deeper, I found many references to cricket coaches, football coaches, basketball coaches and various issues that hon. Members wished to drive a horse and coach through.

Parliament has been talking about coaches for almost as long as they have existed. In the 1790s, Parliament debated people who leapt on to stagecoaches and, just as they reached the tollgate, jumped off and got on again at the other side, in what seems the short ticketing of the past. In 1839, there was a mention of Dunstable and coaches. A coach proprietor, Mr Johnstone of Dunstable, was worried about taxation on stagecoaches and competition from newfangled railways. I have to report that, unfortunately, the Chancellor was not sympathetic to the plight of stagecoaches. I hope the Minister today will be more so to the modern coach industry.

Coaches have been described to me by many in the industry as a social glue. They are certainly not niche; we see them all around us. They offer flexible, affordable and sustainable transport for millions of people. They take 600,000 children to school every day. One million people take coach trips and tours in the UK each year.