Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [HL]

My Lords, to repeat what both I and the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, said: it is important that the money goes where the expenditure is. Some way must be found to do that. It would be nonsense to make a request to the Secretary of State for expenditure. We must find a way of delivering the scheme that ensures that the money does not go into a big black hole and disappear but goes where the extra expenditure will take place. I do not think that that is impossible to do. I am sure that the noble Baroness and I can talk to our colleagues in the LGA, and so on, to make certain that they back that approach. There must be a new approach, otherwise the whole system will collapse. I am sorry to be difficult.