What steps he is taking to improve the quality of service offered to bus passengers.

Last week we published our proposals for a modernised framework for bus services. It contains a number of measures to improve the quality of service offered to bus passengers.

My Constituency has benefited considerably from Government funding for bus priority measures, but we are trying to expand bus usage from a low base in a city that was built essentially for private car use. Will the Secretary of State explain how the new proposals will help cities such as mine, which are expanding bus usage from a low base?

Milton Keynes, as an authority, will benefit from the opportunity provided by the powers that we announced last week to enhance the working relationship with private operators. There are many examples throughout the country of effective partnership between local authorities and the bus companies, but there are other areas in which that partnership needs to be strengthened. Powers are now available to local authorities such as my hon. Friend's to ensure that that effective working relationship is not limited to a number of locations, but much more widely spread throughout the country.

You, Mr. Speaker, will have read, as I have, the "Putting Passengers First" document, which on the opening page states:

"One size will not fit all."

That at least confirms what the Secretary of State said last month about no return to the pre-1985 regulation era. Will he also confirm something else? According to the document, bus usage has been declining since 1970, and page 21 states that increasing car usage is the single most important factor behind bus decline. How will he reverse that policy?

Bus patronage has been decliningfor many decades—indeed, in an exchange across the Floor of the House in a previous Question Time, there was an argument about whether it started in the 1950s. I fully acknowledge that there has been a decline in bus patronage for many years. It is also the case that the number of vehicles on our road has been increasing. As I recollect, since 1996 it has risen from about 26 million to 33 million. We face a challenge, and that challenge is to give people a real alternative to using the car. It partly involves resource, which is why we have committed new sums to buses over recent years, but it also means that we need to have the governance arrangements right so that there is an effective partnership working between local authorities and private bus operators. That is the spirit in which we published the document last week.

It is beyond peradventure, is it not, that the decline in bus services was exacerbated when buses were deregulated in the mid-1980s? Is not it the case that the single most important way of improving the life of bus passengers is to re-regulate the bus service? I acknowledge that my right hon. Friend has made a nod in that direction in "Putting Passengers First" by saying that it should be possible to introduce quality contracts and that there should not be an unnecessarily high barrier. My question is why my constituents should have to wait when they are being exploited by unreasonable bus groups, like First Group and Stagecoach, every day of the week. We want action to enable quality contracts to be introduced now.

I recognise the force of my hon. Friend's point about the need to ensure that quality contracts not only exist in theory, but can be achieved in practice. That is why we have looked carefully at the hurdle for quality contracts. I hope that there is a consensus in the House that the right way forward is to publish the document and to facilitate a draft Bill, so that there isproper discussion of the measures, which could have an impact on communities across the country, beforewe move on to legislation. That strikes the right balance between urgency and the appropriate level of consultation.

Does the Secretary of State accept that for many people in rural areas the bus will never be a real alternative to the car? Does he further accept that in those rural areas there is real concern about suggestions for road pricing? Will he address that when he replies to the question?

It is curious that the Conservative party is changing its position on road pricing almost by the question. We are clear about our position on road pricing. We see a case for taking forward regional pilots. We also want to take forward the debate on a national scheme, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will have a view on those matters. In terms of the provision of bus services in rural communities, I shall take no lectures from the Conservatives. Of course we need to continue to consider the provision of public transport to our rural communities, but I do not see the way ahead as being the approach adopted by them during their 18 years in power.

My right hon. Friend will be aware that we are spending considerable millions of pounds supporting bus services provided by the private sector. Has he had discussions with the private sector with a view to directing some of that money towards supporting young apprentices to get into work, in particular in the bus industry, where there is an acute shortage of suitably qualified individuals?

It is a matter of record that in recent years, under this Government, the number of apprentices has significantly increased from the position we inherited. I recently visited a bus depot and saw for myself a number of workers who were being trained as bus drivers. The industry has a responsibility to recognise that it needs those properly trained people if we are to have the increase in bus usage that many hon. Members on both sides of the House would like to see.

Is the Secretary of State aware that some bus companies are changing their timetables in a way that prevents pensioners from taking up the free travel that is available to them? For example, the 9 o'clock Yorkshire Coastliner service from Scarborough to Malton, York and Leeds now leaves at 8.50 am and pensioners cannot use it without getting a lift down the road to the first stop from which the bus leaves at 9 am.

I defer to the hon. Gentleman's greater knowledge of that particular route, given his Constituency interest, but I hope that—as seems likely from the tenor of his question—he welcomes the resources that we have committed to the concessionary travel scheme for pensioners, and trust that he will continue to support it in the future. As for his point about the changing of timetables, one of the facts that surfaced during our long, hard look at bus services over the six months leading up to last week's publication of our document was that timetables are too often changed in an arbitrary manner that leaves the passenger behind. That is exactly why we want the changes that the document describes.

When my constituent Mrs. Margaret Pollard complained to Stagecoach in Manchester that a 42A bus had failed to stop at the university bus stop, she was told that it was a busy bus stop. She was advised to board another bus in future and to wait for the 42A at a quieter stop. As my right hon. Friend will know, there are too many buses on the route because of companies competing for passengers, which has led to congestion involving both buses and cars. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the proposals in "Putting Passengers First" will help Greater Manchester passenger transport authority to deal with the problem?

First, let me express my sympathy for my hon. Friend's constituent. It does not seem to me that the approach adopted in that instance is the best way to produce the increase in passenger numbers that we have been discussing today.

I have met members of Greater Manchester passenger transport authority, and also the leader of Manchester council. I am fully aware of the so-called bus wars that have been taking place in that community, and we were mindful of those circumstances when we produced our document last week.