Local Transport Bill [Lords]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I have said clearly that those who propose the scheme should use every option to ensure that they consult. As I said in response to an earlier intervention about the time process, local transport authorities will take time to develop a scheme. Depending on a scheme's complexity—for instance, it could be a city-wide scheme or a more localised scheme—it will obviously take time for it to be ready and presentable. I therefore assume that authorities would use every option to ensure that they have consulted as widely as possible. Amendment (c) to new clause 14 relates to the actions that a QCS board might take if it considered that an authority had failed to follow the statutory requirements about notice and consultation. Again, new clause 14 already provides that the board may make recommendations on how the authority might address the apparent failure. In addition, amendment (c) would provide a power for the board to direct the local authority to take particular actions. However, I fear that the amendment rather misses the point of the Government new clauses and amendments that we are debating. The purpose of the changes that we are proposing, following lengthy debate in Committee—again, we listened—is to place decision making in the hands of elected local authorities. In that context, it would be inappropriate for a QCS board to have a power to direct a local authority. Let me turn to the Opposition amendments to new clause 15. Amendments (a) and (b) seek to amend the grounds on which an appeal may be brought before the Transport Tribunal. I have already explained that under new clause 15 the grounds for appeal would depend on whether the QCS board had, in effect, given the final version of the scheme a clean bill of health. Where the board, which after all will be independent of both central Government and the local authorities, has examined the facts of the case and given that clean bill of health, the Government consider it entirely appropriate for the onward right of appeal to the tribunal to be limited to points of law, as was discussed earlier. That would enable an appeal to be brought on grounds that, for example, the authority had acted unreasonably in deciding to make the scheme, had acted with bias or had fettered its discretion. There would therefore be a clear safeguard in the most unlikely event of a QCS board failing to identify a major flaw in the authority's proposal. However, where the final version of the scheme had not received a clean bill of health from the QCS board, an appeal could be brought either on points of law or questions of fact. That would enable a full-case review. The Government consider those proposals to provide an entirely appropriate level of protection, while avoiding unnecessary stages in the process, which after all could delay the implementation of schemes that are manifestly in the public interest.