Clause 1
Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Paul Rowen (Shadow Minister, Transport; Rochdale, Liberal Democrat)
Thank you, Mr. Bayley. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. Like the Minister, I welcome this Bill. It extends provision and continues what the Government started 12 months ago, when they introduced free concessionary bus fares in localities throughout England and Wales.
Amendments Nos. 7, 31, 32 and 35 seek to broaden the definition of an eligible journey. In her opening remarks, the Minister alluded to the fact that the Government may, at some future time, extend the provision. However, we would like to see that written in the Bill so that we have a clear commitment over a period of time. Also, given the fact that the Bill applies only to England and Wales and that there are different arrangements in other nations of the UK, we would like to see some clarity. In particular, we want the provision extended to trains, trams, ferries and community transport.
I will use community transport to illustrate one of the faults in the current scheme. Eighteen months ago, a bus operator in my constituency decided to withdraw a service. The passenger transport authority decided in its wisdom to put a dial-a-ride community transport scheme on that route and not another subsidised bus. That has been a source of great upset to pensioners in Deeplish. Although they can use their concessionary bus pass on a bus, there is no bus in their locality and they have to pay 50p for the community transport scheme. In our view, we should extend the provision to that service. I know that the Minister will say that passenger transport authorities and local authorities have their own resources to make that provision now, but we would like that enshrined in the Bill along with a clear Government commitment to extend free travel to those modes of transport.
On Second Reading, some hon. Members asked why the Isle of Wight is going to get some of this money when it provides no buses. If the amendment is accepted by the Government, the ferry service that goes to the Isle of Wight will be eligible for the provision.
We also want to tighten the definition of what is and is not provided. For example, at the moment we think that open-top tourist buses could be eligible. However, as they do not fall within the normal definition of public transport, we do not think that they should be included in the Bill.
We also want to see some provision made with regard to what we mean by “bus”. Clearly, the ideas of limited stock or a fast sort of coach does not come within that provision. I hope that the Minister will accept that. She has said that the Government retain the power to introduce such proposals. We would like to see a clear commitment written into the Bill to enable that to happen.