Clause 59
Local Transport Bill [Lords]
6:15 pm
Stephen Hammond (Shadow Minister, Transport; Wimbledon, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 248, in clause 59, page 53, line 30, leave out from ‘to’ to ‘, and’ in line 31 and insert ‘the appropriate local authority’.
We have agreed the principle that the traffic commissioner should have the right to impose sanctions, and one of those sanctions is that the money from fines should be reinvested in the bus service in the area. Under the amendment, any fines payable under the clause would be payable to the local authority and not, as the clause is currently drafted, to the Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers. That is appropriate: it fits in with the nature of the bus industry, which is a very local industry. As we have stressed throughout proceedings on the Bill, the local authority should have a key role in determining the provision of bus services in the area. That function is carried out by local transport authorities and local operators, so having any proceeds of fines paid to national Government is an anomaly in comparison with the rest of the Bill. I strongly believe that the proceeds of fines should be reinvested in the bus services, and that that should be done by the appropriate local authority, not by moneys going to the Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers.