Local Transport Bill [HL]

My Lords, I follow that highly entertaining intervention with an apology to the House. I was confused about the approvals board and I accept that I was wrong. The quality partnership and the quality contract are two separate things. What underlines what the noble Lord, Lord Snape, has said is that we are talking about a partnership and I feel that many of the protagonists on the group to which he referred do not wholly agree it is a partnership. There are bad and difficult people on the bus side, but I assure you that there are very difficult people on the other side too. It is very difficult to get people to come to an agreement, yet that is what a partnership means. Lastly, let me turn to something the Minister said earlier that I have been thinking about. In this legislation, does the Integrated Transport Authority assume the highway powers so that it can give direction as to how the congestion to which the noble Lord, Lord Snape, has referred can be tackled? The issue of one or two districts standing outside is bound to lead to disputes, and that is an issue which we should be quite clear on before this Bill leaves the House.