Clause 44

Part of Local Transport Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:15 pm on 6 May 2008.

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Photo of Stephen Hammond Stephen Hammond Shadow Minister (Transport) 4:15, 6 May 2008

Under the Transport Act 2000, operators are prohibited from registering additional services in an area where there is a quality contract scheme in operation, subject to certain qualifications. Clause 44 re-examines the issue and makes some modifications to the rules that govern the registration of services in areas where a quality contract scheme is operational.

My belief that the clause requires some change stems from a number of concerns. That will be no surprise to the Committee. First, is it right to restrict free competition, let alone in an area with a quality contract? Should other operators not be able to run services alongside the quality contract if they see a demand? Last week, the Minister put it on record that if a service was not detrimental to the quality contract she would regard it as acceptable. The services provided under a quality contract may or may not suffice in providing the services that locals require. It is possible that the network of services could be improved.

Secondly—I return to my fear that the traffic commissioners will end up being micro-managed—the provisions of the Bill and of previous legislation are designed to ensure that traffic commissioners are given certain functions and that they have the appropriate proficiency, resources and independence to carry out those functions. Beyond that, it should not be necessary to interfere in their work. One of the most important functions of traffic commissioners is the registration of buses. They receive the registration application and, having weighed all the pros and cons, they have to decide whether to accept or reject it. Under the clause, they will be told who to consult and how to reach that decision, but that calls into question the very independence of the traffic commissioner.

The clause removes from the traffic commissioner the function of accepting registrations It does so by placing an obligation on the traffic commissioner to invite representations from the relevant local authority. If he receives a clearance certificate, he has no choice but to accept the application. If he does not receive a clearance certificate he has no choice but to reject the application. All he is at that point is a thoroughly pointless middleman who does nothing but pass the application on to the local authority to be approved, or not. I am not sure that that was what the Government intended the traffic commissioner to do at that point. One wonders why he becomes just a pointless middleman.

My amendment would work in two ways. First, it would put an obligation on the traffic commissioner to consult not only the local authority running the quality contract scheme but the approvals board that approved it. That is important, as the board will consist of independent, qualified individuals with an intimate knowledge of the arrangements of the quality contract scheme and its impact on the registration of additional services. Secondly, the amendment would remove from the clause the subsections that require the traffic commissioner to comply with the issuance or non-issuance of a clearance certificate. A traffic commissioner should not need to be told by anyone how to do his job. His job is to decide on the registration of bus services, but the clause takes that away.