New Clause 3
Concessionary Bus Travel Bill
5:15 pm
Gillian Merron (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Lincoln, Labour)
The point I was making before the Division was that, if the new clause’s intention is to formalise the consultative arrangements, I must ask the hon. Member for Rochdale to cite the specific reasons why the arrangements need changing, and why, presumably, they are not working effectively. The concessionary fares working group involves representatives from all tiers of local government—PTEs, London Councils, district, county and unitary councils, the Local Government Association, operator representatives from the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the Government offices for the regions and the Department itself. The group has been meeting monthly for almost a year, and it met regularly before that time.
Hon. Members might also wish to know that several sub-groups of the working group provide advice on particular issues. For example, the operations and technology sub-group is considering, among other issues, the technical specification of the proposed national passes. It has met once a fortnight for many months. Funding and reimbursement sub-groups have recently been re-established, and we are organising a workshop with local authority representatives to focus on eligibility.
I welcome the important work that the concessionary fares working group and its sub-groups have put into considering concessionary bus travel matters over the past two years, both in advance of the changes that were introduced in April 2006, and in preparation for the implementation of the proposed national concession in England later next year. The working group plays a vital role in driving the implementation forward, and I put on record once again my appreciation of its efforts and involvement.
Similarly, user group representatives—pensioners and disabled people—play an important role in keeping the Department informed about issues that concern them as concessionaires. I recently attended a meeting of the stakeholder group, and I welcome the opportunity to hear from people who will benefit first hand. Engagement will continue, especially as we prepare to communicate to potential users the key messages about the national concession.
We should remind ourselves that the Department relies not only on informal consultation. For example, we have just begun formal consultation on the design and technical specifications of the national concessionary pass. The consultation is open until 20 July, and to the public as a whole.
I return to the purpose of the new clause. From a recent and informal canvass of members of the concessionary fares working group, there is little appetite for putting it on a statutory footing. I was happy to hear that result, because such action would increase bureaucracy and reduce the flexibility of the group to respond to changing circumstances, and I am not at all clear about the added value. Would council recommendations be binding? If so, how would they be enforced? If not, how would they be useful? How many members would the council have? How would they be chosen? What would be the decision-making procedure? How would it be administered? Who would fund it? And how exactly would it help all parties to implement the national concession successfully next year?