Clause 68
Local Transport Bill [Lords]
7:31 pm
Rosie Winterton (Minister of State, Department for Transport; Doncaster Central, Labour)
As I have explained, although there are powers in the Bill to set up the committee, the Government announced on 8 April that, in fact, we would use Passenger Focus as the bus passenger champion, so we do not have any immediate plans to use the powers, although we propose to retain them.
To answer the hon. Gentleman’s question, when we consulted on the draft Bill last year, many people told us that passengers needed better representation nationally by a body with statutory powers, which is why we are introducing them. In crafting the powers, we recognise that future consultation will be necessary to ensure that we set up the type of body that meets the actual needs of passengers. At the same time, we want to ensure that we do not create duplication between different bodies. We wanted the maximum flexibility for the passenger transport users committee to take on functions that are currently carried out by another body, and vice versa.
It is likely that any such transfer of functions would be between bodies with an interest in consumer representation, but they might not be directly representative of public transport users. If the PTUC were established, we might want to transfer functions to it from the National Consumer Council or vice versa. That group represents consumers, including those of transport services, but it is not directly representative of public transport users.
The amendment would reduce the flexibility of the committee to take on, or to give to another body, functions that, with hindsight, might have been best carried out elsewhere. It is therefore contrary to the idea behind the clause, and I hope that what I have said gives the hon. Member for Wimbledon the clarification that he was looking for.