Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 7: 7: Clause 1 , page 2, line 17, at end insert ““, or (c) that is compliant with the ITSO standard, as detailed under Crown copyright in 2004.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, as the Bill stands, there is ambiguity about the specification of the proposed national smart card. We debated this at length in Committee and there was general agreement. The issue is how it will happen. The Bill does not specify the format that the smart card should take. That would not be a problem were it not for the fact that there is a national standard in smart-card technology, known as the ITSO standard. Detailed specifications of that were published in 2004 under the Crown copyright. In my view, the lack of rigid specification on this matter theoretically allows the Government to deviate from the ITSO standard, which would be a senseless waste of the significant work already completed in introducing the scheme. I know that the Minister supports the implementation of smart cards of this specification and the Government have been working to develop the scheme. Formalising this intention is important in order to provide clarity to local authorities whose duty it will be to deliver the scheme on the ground. It is important that the scheme isnot nationalised and that it is operated by local authorities. However, there must be some consistency in a national scheme and I believe that that ispossible. Furthermore, the Minister indicated that local authorities already have, and will continue to have, a significant input in the development of the scheme. The Minister indicated that in his letter to us a week or so ago. I applaud the recognition that local authorities have the capacity to deliver on this initiative and would like to see the amendment pressed so as to guarantee that the work continues. I beg to move.