Local Transport Bill [HL]

I understand that the noble Lord has other responsibilities, and I am very sensitive to that. I shall certainly do my bit to make sure that matters are kept as brief as possible. I want to record my thanks also to other colleagues who have played a part in this. This is an interesting amendment, but not one that I ultimately find attractive. It raises some interesting points and subjects. The effect is that every change in the requirements for frequencies, timings or maximum fares in a quality partnership scheme would need to go through an extensive consultation process. I understand that the noble Lord wants fair and reasonable treatment for operators; I understand that he seeks clarity and transparency. We seek a balanced approach. We certainly regard consultation as an excellent thing—I have not heard many speeches against the value of consultation in my time in your Lordships' House—but one has to have a sense of proportion. It is important to approach things in that way. I see two problems with the approach adopted by the noble Lord. First, fares and frequencies are market-sensitive issues—I am sure that the noble Lord appreciates that—and a scheme is more likely to be acceptable in competition terms if there are provisions that allow such matters to be regularly reviewed, so that operators in the scheme are not bound to standards that may have been realistic at the outset but are not in the longer term, and so that new operators are not crowded out of the market by the high frequencies demanded of those in the scheme. A regular review process—perhaps once a year—should be an integral part of the system. It should be agreed at the outset so that all the participants know exactly where they stand. That would not be compatible with going through the variation procedure with full public consultation. That could take almost a year to complete in itself. There is a danger that the process gets so cumbersome that there are not enough resources to put into the scheme and it would not then deliver its objectives. A second concern is that if there is not the reassurance that any provision on frequency, timing and fares can be revised quite quickly and easily, operators are less likely to make the commitments in the first place and may well have admissible objections to doing so. All those factors are interrelated and we could easily upset the balance. Bus operators will have to be fully engaged in the review process. It is perhaps worth reminding the Committee of the regulation-making powers that Clause 17 would insert into Section 122 of the Transport Act 2000. Those include, in paragraph (3)(c), a power to make provision, "““for any requirement as to frequencies, timings or maximum fares to be revised only if there are no admissible objections to the revision from relevant operators””." So it would be possible, under the provisions as drafted, to provide that such revisions could not take place without consulting relevant operators, without the need to impose the full, heavy-handed and perhaps sometimes overbearing consultation process in respect of such changes. I hope that the noble Lord is satisfied on that point. I certainly understand his desire for greater clarity and transparency in these matters, but we need a sense of balance and proportion. I have a feeling that if the noble Lord were, in his own patch, to go along the route that he is recommending in the amendment, he could find himself rather bogged down and mired in consultation that could be never-ending.