Local Transport Bill [HL]

My Lords, I agree with much of what the noble Lord, Lord Snape, has said. The big enemy of bus operation in the country is road congestion. Many local authorities are not, for various reasons, addressing road congestion and seek to put all the blame for bad services on the bus operators. There are some bad bus operators and they have poor standards. Where there is a real attempt to clear congestion, generally the bus operators respond with considerable extra investment and training. My second point is rather procedural. I raised this at Second Reading. The Minister said then: "““The intention is not to make it difficult to establish a quality partnership scheme; the intention is to ensure that local authorities cannot impose requirements on bus operators that are unrealistic or unreasonable in relation to frequencies, timings or … fares””.—[Official Report, 20/11/07; col. 799.]" I was also given the assurance, although it is not recorded here, that the Traffic Commissioner would not sit by himself. He would have two people with him, one whose qualifications were in transport planning, while the other would be qualified in economics. I am sure that no bus operator will get by these people unless they have a good case. However, in any court of law both sides must have the opportunity to put their case. Therefore, I am sorry but I will not support the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Rosser.