UK Parliament / Open data

Concessionary Bus Travel Bill [Lords]

Debate on bills on Monday, 14 May 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Douglas Alexander. The answering member was Lord Grayling.
Concessionary Bus Travel Bill (HL). Second reading debate. Agreed to on question. Programme motion on proceedings in Committee, on Report, Third Reading and any other proceedings. Agreed to on question. Money resolution agreed to on question.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

460 c401-47 

Session

2006-07

Department

Department for Transport

Legislative stage

Second reading

Procedure

Programme motions
Money resolutions

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Concessionary Bus Travel Bill (HL). Brought from the Lords. Explanatory Notes Bill 60-EN also published.
Tuesday, 6 February 2007
Bills
House of Lords
Legislative scrutiny : second progress report. Human Rights Joint Select Committee third report report with proceedings and appendices.
Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Parliamentary committees
House of Lords
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Douglas Alexander | 460 c406 (Link to this contribution) I cannot claim to be familiar with the specific case that the hon. Gentleman raises on behalf of his...
Lord Grayling | 460 c406-7 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State confirm that the only part of the country of any size in which ridership...

Show all contributions (117)
Douglas Alexander | 460 c406 (Link to this contribution) I will leave it to the judgment of the House as to whether we might end up with a better scheme if y...
John Baron | 460 c406 (Link to this contribution) May I return the Minister to the point about adequate funding? Although I hear what the Government a...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c407 (Link to this contribution) I have been generous, and I had better make a little more progress. A national concession also requ...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c407 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a couple of points. First, bus patronage is increasing in some localities outside Londo...
Lord Beamish | 460 c407 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Speaker | 460 c406 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Lady should be careful about using the word ““you””, because I cannot give concessio...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c405 (Link to this contribution) It is not for me to determine the budgetary allocations of every local authority in England. However...
Peter Atkinson | 460 c408 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State was talking about coach travel. Will he define coach travel, because some of ...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c408 (Link to this contribution) I should be happy for the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Linc...
Lord Beamish | 460 c408 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Douglas Alexander | 460 c408 (Link to this contribution) I will give way one last time, and then I will seek to make progress.
Lord Beamish | 460 c409 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that my right hon. Friend gave way; I thought that it might be personal. I welcome the Bil...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c409 (Link to this contribution) The assurance that I can offer my hon. Friend is that this is not our last word on reform of the reg...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c408 (Link to this contribution) I have just made it clear that, at this stage, we do not anticipate changes to the concessionary sch...
Celia Barlow | 460 c407 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State will be delighted to learn that there has been great interest in this scheme ...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c408 (Link to this contribution) I am aware that this is an issue of some debate. I re-emphasise the point I made a few moments ago: ...
Linda Gilroy | 460 c411;460 c410 (Link to this contribution) Before my right hon. Friend moves on, will he give way?
Douglas Alexander | 460 c411 (Link to this contribution) I shall do so, I hope for the final time.
Douglas Alexander | 460 c410 (Link to this contribution) I have been generous in giving way, and I am keen to make a little more progress. Our overriding pr...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c409-10 (Link to this contribution) I know that that is a matter of dispute between the boroughs and TFL. If there were agreement betwee...
Baroness Kramer | 460 c409 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State very much. Is he aware that Transport for London has been using the f...
Baroness Kramer | 460 c409 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Peter Atkinson | 460 c415 (Link to this contribution) I want to reinforce my hon. Friend’s remarks about community transport. In my constituency I have on...
Lord Grayling | 460 c415-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the fact that in some areas of the country, particul...
Lord Grayling | 460 c412-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman cannot have it both ways. Many in his party hark back to the days of the municipa...
Lord Beamish | 460 c412 (Link to this contribution) Are not the problems that the hon. Gentleman saw on his visit to Sefton a result of the fact that th...
Lord Grayling | 460 c413 (Link to this contribution) I have the greatest respect for the hon. Lady and her experience of the House. In 1985 I was just le...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 460 c413 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted. This is wonderful—the greatest fairy story that I have heard for a very long time, a...
Lord Grayling | 460 c412 (Link to this contribution) May I welcome the Secretary of State back to the House? He is one Scot, I suspect, who is extremely ...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c411 (Link to this contribution) I can assure my hon. Friend that that issue is exactly why we have undertaken such detailed work, no...
David Clelland | 460 c419-20 (Link to this contribution) Yes, indeed. In fact, some of the services that were cut were to outlying areas, to which it is not ...
Doug Henderson | 460 c419 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a particular problem in the areas in the city that are most ...
Lord Grayling | 460 c417-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. If we are to have any chance of providing genuine alternatives to the car o...
David Clelland | 460 c418 (Link to this contribution) When the scheme was introduced in 2006—or, at least when it was announced by the Chancellor in 2005—...
Bob Spink | 460 c417 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted by my hon. Friend’s constructive approach to the Bill. Does he agree that we need to ...
Chris Mullin | 460 c419 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right to underline the dire underfunding of the scheme in Tyne and Wear...
David Clelland | 460 c419 (Link to this contribution) Indeed I have. In fact, among the early complaints that we received from elderly people about the sc...
Paul Truswell | 460 c418 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is detailing one problem with the current use of the revenue support grant, but are t...
David Clelland | 460 c418-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises a couple of points that I shall come back to later. There are several anomalie...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 460 c429 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. Despite the intentions behind the Bill, it will be quite difficult to m...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 460 c428-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are a great deal of calls for the concession to be withdra...
Angela Watkinson | 460 c429 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that when Transport for London negotiates contracts with bus companies, it...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 460 c426-8 (Link to this contribution) Like everybody else, in general I welcome the intentions of the Bill, although as we have heard from...
Angela Watkinson | 460 c428 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend said that some people wish that the concession had not been allowed. Would it surpris...
Paul Rowen | 460 c421-4 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister and, through her, the Secretary of State, for the help and information provided...
Lord Beamish | 460 c424-6 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Bill. I know that it is warmly welcomed in North Durham, and in Durham in general, for...
Lord Beamish | 460 c420 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, many of my constituents travel over the border from Chester-le-Street into ...
David Clelland | 460 c420-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend tempts me down a road that would extend this debate longer than was intended. I certa...
David Clelland | 460 c420 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman refers to a point that will come up in other debates and in other Bills, although...
Baroness Merron | 460 c440 (Link to this contribution) I thank hon. Members for their contributions to this debate, which is important, not least because i...
Stephen Hammond | 460 c438-40 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, we will continue to support the principle underlying the Bill and to study it as ...
Andrew Rosindell | 460 c433-6 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. There are so many good reasons why extending the pass wi...
Stephen Hammond | 460 c436-7 (Link to this contribution) I see from the Order Paper that the debate could last till 10 o’clock, which presents us with a chal...
Lord Beamish | 460 c437 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was obviously not listening very carefully. My point about Go North East and othe...
Stephen Hammond | 460 c438 (Link to this contribution) I must have misinterpreted the hon. Gentleman, but that was not the point made by the hon. Member fo...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 460 c437 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the large number of Whips and former Whips present, including on the ...
Stephen Hammond | 460 c437 (Link to this contribution) I could not disagree with that. Indeed, I reinforce the point and look forward to enjoying that care...
Peter Atkinson | 460 c430-2 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, and I accept the point about through-ticketing for the Metro sy...
Lord Beamish | 460 c432 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the wise old gentleman very carefully. Surely old buses, poor service and a lack o...
Peter Atkinson | 460 c432 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman misinterprets me. The reason why those buses are as they are is that the services...
Andrew Rosindell | 460 c432-3 (Link to this contribution) May I echo the words of my hon. Friends and, indeed, all hon. Members by commending the Government o...
Peter Atkinson | 460 c429-30 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall). He gave a sli...
Peter Atkinson | 460 c430 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman in a minute; I am deliberately trying to excite him, so I will...
Peter Atkinson | 460 c430 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman in a minute. Privatisation gave the bus systems new impetus an...
Lord Beamish | 460 c430 (Link to this contribution) In my constituency, those companies have left whole communities without any buses at all because the...
David Leslie Taylor | 460 c443 (Link to this contribution) I had talks with Arriva Midlands senior staff on Friday, and I have been in contact with Leicestersh...
Baroness Merron | 460 c445-6 (Link to this contribution) I am just coming to the end of my remarks. Buses are getting better. They are becoming more accessi...
David Leslie Taylor | 460 c445 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend give way on that point?
Baroness Merron | 460 c444-5 (Link to this contribution) I want to make a bit more progress. Reference has been made to the Isles of Scilly, which is an issu...
Baroness Merron | 460 c444 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to disappoint my hon. Friend but the Bill has the scope only to expand the geographical e...
David Clelland | 460 c444 (Link to this contribution) I am not quite sure that my hon. Friend has answered the point that was made. The Bill deals with th...
Baroness Merron | 460 c443-4 (Link to this contribution) That is why the Bill allows local provision to be made where it meets local circumstances. However, ...
Paul Rowen | 460 c443 (Link to this contribution) The Liberal Democrats have asked for scheme extensions in cases where there is not a bus service in ...
Baroness Merron | 460 c443 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is extraordinarily difficult to pinpoint that. However,...
Baroness Merron | 460 c442 (Link to this contribution) Assistance will come primarily through a procurement framework, but there will also be people in the...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 460 c442 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister explain further what she meant by the Government’s ““assisting”” local authorities...
Baroness Merron | 460 c442 (Link to this contribution) We know that card readers will not be in place by April 2008, but the cost of introducing them has b...
Lord Beamish | 460 c442 (Link to this contribution) It is not as though millions of pounds will be poured into the Go Ahead Northerns of this world, but...
Baroness Merron | 460 c441 (Link to this contribution) That has not been the experience to date, and I am sure that Members will raise any examples. Consi...
John Leech | 460 c440 (Link to this contribution) Does not the Minister think that the bus companies, which are run by clever people, will be able to ...
Baroness Merron | 460 c441 (Link to this contribution) I assure my hon. Friend that all those matters are under discussion with the interested parties. Ope...
Lord Beamish | 460 c441 (Link to this contribution) May I point out one anomaly? Currently, a bus company gets reimbursed for providing concessionary fa...
Baroness Merron | 460 c442-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that clarification, but I am sure the House will accept that inquirie...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 460 c403 (Link to this contribution) Whatever sensible conclusions my right hon. Friend reaches, will he ensure that it is widely publici...
Graham Stringer | 460 c404 (Link to this contribution) This is indeed an excellent Bill, but the system contains a perverse incentive for bus companies to ...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c404 (Link to this contribution) That was not the most generous of contributions. There has already been additional support for conce...
Mark Harper | 460 c404 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) may be right, but if the Government are to cl...
Bob Spink | 460 c405 (Link to this contribution) I will be generous to the right hon. Gentleman and his Government for bringing forward this excellen...
Andrew MacKay | 460 c405 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State is being extremely graceful and generous in giving way, so I shall be brief. ...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c404 (Link to this contribution) I know that the matter is of concern to my hon. Friend; he raised it in his recent Adjournment debat...
Betty Williams | 460 c402 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. He will be aware of the successful scheme in Wales intr...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c403 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his characteristically astute observations. I am not sure that t...
Andrew Miller | 460 c402 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Conwy (Mrs. Williams) was reading my mind with her intervention. I can...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c402 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. The Bill contains enabling powers that would facil...
Lord Beith | 460 c403 (Link to this contribution) May I press the Secretary of State to start the discussions now? He has nearly a year. For some of m...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c402 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his generous tribute to the step forward that the Bill represents. Of cou...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c403 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his contribution to this debate. It echoes the contrib...
David Hamilton | 460 c403 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The English are also coming to Scotland in their droves, so that would work well the other w...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c401-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is a tireless campaigner on this issue; indeed, he spoke in the most recent Adjournme...
David Clelland | 460 c401 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way and I apologise for intervening so early in his...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c401 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Buses are at the heart of Britain’s transpo...
David Hamilton | 460 c403 (Link to this contribution) Further to the points that have been made, there are some 2 millions Scots or descendants of Scots l...
Linda Gilroy | 460 c411 (Link to this contribution) Is my right hon. Friend confident that what he has just described will adequately reimburse the bus ...
Lord Grayling | 460 c413-5 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to consider the bus industry today and the future of public transport provision. When the...
Lord Grayling | 460 c420 (Link to this contribution) I would be curious to know whether the hon. Gentleman thinks that the problems that he is describing...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c403 (Link to this contribution) As ever, my hon. Friend speaks with wisdom. It is a matter on which I have been reflecting even in r...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c404 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me. I have been generous in taking interventions, and I shall endeavour to take some more be...
Douglas Alexander | 460 c405 (Link to this contribution) The hope I can offer the council is that a great deal of work is under way in my Department on that ...
Martin Linton | 460 c408 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Bill, but am I right in interpreting my right hon. Friend’s comments as an assurance t...
Angela Watkinson | 460 c433 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for allowing me to intervene. The lady whom he men...
Lord Grayling | 460 c442 (Link to this contribution) May I ask the Minister to stop giving such a creative impression of comments made earlier? We asked ...
Rosie Cooper | 460 c405-6 (Link to this contribution) Secretary of State, you will know that in such authorities as West Lancashire district council, the ...

Subjects

Disability
Disadvantaged
Carers
Administration
Bus services
Costs
Cooperation
Buses
Concessions
Community transport
Borders
Fares
Fraud
Finance
Eligibility
Greater London
Exemptions
Isles of Scilly
Mental illness
Pensioners
Local government finance
Older people
Public transport
Pollution control
Staff
Scotland
Standards
Young people
Wales
Technology
Road traffic control
Tourism
Rural areas
Subsidies
Take-up
Students
Transport for London
Scottish Executive
Welsh Government
Tickets
Tyne and Wear
Freedom pass

Legislation

Concessionary Bus Travel Bill (HL) 2006-07

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
Back to top