Clause 1
Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [Lords]
11:30 am
Gillian Merron (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Lincoln, Labour)
This group of amendments is linked to the issuing of passes. It deals with three specific issues: requiring that all passes are ITSO smartcards; specifying arrangements for fraud prevention, and ensuring adequate funding for London to issue passes. I will deal with each amendment in turn to ensure that I address fully the separate but interrelated issues that they raise.
First, amendment No. 17 recommends that we should make the pass an ITSO-compliant smartcard. This is not the first time that such an amendment has been debated. Speaking on behalf of the Government, Lord Davies addressed the point on several occasions in the other place. It is difficult to see how we can state more clearly the fact that although we absolutely agree with the intention of the amendment, which is to encourage the increase of smart ticketing, we fundamentally disagree that putting an obligation in the Bill is the practical or sensible way to achieve what we all agree would be a desired outcome.
I have stated many times our commitment to smart ticketing and to the ITSO specification, which we see as vital to ensuring the interoperability of smartcards throughout the country. We recently published a consultation document, to which the hon. Member for Wimbledon referred and which Committee members were in receipt of last week, that clearly sets out that our preferred option for the specification of passes is for them to be ITSO-compliant smartcards. However, it is wholly unnecessary to have such a requirement in the Bill. Proposed new section 145A(5) of the Transport Act 2000 provides for the specification of the permit in regulations. As I have already indicated, our preferred option is to use that power to specify that passes will be ITSO-compliant smartcards.
Primary legislation is an inappropriate place to address such technical issues. Regulations are the appropriate place to deal with such matters, and that is where we intend to deal with them. There are still practical and technical matters that need to be fully considered before we can specify the necessary requirements. Furthermore, we must consider the implications of specifying the requirements of the passes in primary legislation. Even the most minor of changes, such as the change of the name ITSO, would require amendments to primary legislation. I am sure that that cannot be the intention of the hon. Member for Wimbledon.
Amendment No. 18 proposes that the Secretary of State be required to specify in regulations arrangements for fraud prevention. Again, I cannot agree with that suggestion. Fraud prevention is, without any doubt, an important part of a workable scheme. We also believe that smart ticketing will do much to prevent fraud, as we have already seen in those areas where it has been implemented. Issuing smartcards already requires the creation of a database containing details of cards that have been issued to concessionaires. Smart ticketing brings with it the ability to deactivate cards reported as lost or stolen. A lot of technical work is being undertaken to lay the foundations for interoperable smart ticketing in England, and indeed the UK generally. An effective method of hot-listing lost and stolen cards is an important part of that work.
Since the national concession will continue to be administered at a local level from April 2008, the most effective solution to fraud lies in ensuring effective communication at a local level, rather than introducing another national level of bureaucracy, which will further complicate matters. The issue of how to combat fraud effectively is one that we visited many times during the development of our proposals. The concessionary fares working group and the operations and technology sub-group, both of which contain representatives of travel concession authorities and operators, have debated at considerable length the most effective fraud prevention measures, including in areas that will not have smart ticketing from April 2008. The matter is also covered in our consultation document.
Travel concession authorities and operators clearly share our strong motivation to minimise fraud, since fraudulent travel has serious financial implications for both parties, as well as for the Government. We therefore do not believe that it is necessary or desirable to specify fraud reduction arrangements in regulations; rather, practical, workable solutions should be developed by those who are best placed to do so.
Amendment No. 33 appears to be intended to ensure that London authorities receive the funding necessary to issue cards to the national specification, and to ensure that they can be used as smartcards on London buses. Although the amendment as drafted relates to the provisions dealing with the reserve free travel scheme, I assume that it is intended to apply generally, and not just in those circumstances. Again, I understand the motivation for such an amendment, but can assure hon. Members that it is entirely unnecessary. The Secretary of State already has the power, and has stated his intention, to make appropriate payments to ensure that passes in London—indeed, in all of England—meet the national standard.
The Government have continually stated their commitment to funding new burdens that are imposed on local authorities—I am happy to restate that commitment. We recognise that the issuing of passes to a national standard represents a new burden and have repeatedly stated that it is our intention to pay a grant to cover all reasonable new cost burdens associated with the issuing of passes. The power to pay such a grant exists under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. As I have said, and as is set out in the recent consultation paper that is available to all Committee members, we recognise the unique situation of London and have taken account of that in our planning.
It is neither cost-effective nor practical to require London to issue ITSO-compliant smartcards forApril 2008. That is why we are proposing that existing freedom passes will be re-stickered with the national logo for April 2008, so that bus drivers throughout England will recognise a Londoner’s entitlement to concessionary bus travel.
Our proposals state that concessionary travel passes in London must meet the national standards fromApril 2010. However, we recognise that issuing cards to the national standard in 2010 will represent a new burden to London and we have stated that we fully intend to pay a grant to cover it. We also fully realise the need for a migration strategy for London. The intention of specifying that passes must be ITSO-compliant smartcards is to lay the foundations for interoperable smart ticketing for all of England and, ultimately, the UK. London is, of course, a vital part of that.
To reassure hon. Members, in May 2006, the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State for Transport agreed that the Oyster network would be made interoperable with ITSO smartcards. A technical solution to achieve that is under development. We are involved in a continuing dialogue with London councils and the Local Government Association to determine the nature of the new burdens that will be borne by London and the most appropriate basis on which to pay the grant. The way in which the amendment is drafted suggests that the Secretary of State would make such payments only under the reserve free travel scheme. I assure the Committee that we intend to pay a grant to cover London’s new burdens whether or not the free travel scheme is in operation.
In summary, I trust that I have demonstrated clearly that the amendments, despite being tabled with the best of intentions, would not achieve their aims of promoting the spread of smart ticketing or of ensuring that a workable system is in place for April 2008. On that basis, I hope that hon. Members will not press the amendments to a Division.