Bus Industry

My Lords, in our party we have a policy of localism and, if that is what the local party seeks to do, that is up to it. However, my message, which is entirely consistent wherever I go, is that bus priority is important. Equally important is the fare structure. The Concessionary Bus Travel Bill, currently going through your Lordships’ House, deals with some issues that will have a profound effect on the future development of the bus industry. There is much evidence that the method chosenfor distributing the concessionary fares grant is dangerously inefficient because it is based on local government grant assessments, which are very complicated, and not on the use of buses. That means that many authorities that have worked particularly hard to increase patronage are likely to face higher costs and will not be reimbursed. Therefore, they face a perverse incentive. A further problem is that central government have, in effect, put a cap on the amount of extra grant that a single authority can receive from the Government. That means that, if a council receives a grant for a social services project, it will receive less for the concessionary fares. That is the net effect of the Government’s policy. It might save time at Report stage of that Bill if the Minister could say now how the Government will address those funding problems. Is he prepared to consider a system that would reward output—for example, the number of journeys made? One final point on concessionary fares is that last week the Government announced an increase in the school leaving age to 18, which we on these Benches welcomed. However, that leaves the anomaly that half fares stop at age 14 or 16, depending on the operator. Given that young people, by definition, will not be in full-time employment, would it not be a good idea to include them in the scope of the concessionary fares regime? Not only would that be fair, but it makes absolute sense to encourage bus use among young people at a time when travel patterns, which might last a lifetime, could be established. The bus remains the most ready weapon at our disposal to combat the problems of congestion, emissions and global warming, and to improve social inclusion. It does not involve far-distant technology and we could see dramatic improvements at a very modest cost to the public purse.