Are you going to use new powers to improve rural bus services?
November 17, 2008 1:30 PM
Lib Dem South Suffolk Parliamentary campaigner, Nigel Bennett asks Tory run Suffolk County Council.
Bus deregulation introduced by the Tories in the 1985 Transport Act has for the most part resulted in worse bus services for passengers. Outside of London bus patronage has fallen significantly over the last 20 years. The Transport Act 2000 was supposed to give Local Authorities an opportunity to negotiate Quality Partnerships with bus operators or force through Quality Contracts where agreement could not be reached. No Quality Contracts had been implemented due to the weak legislation and the tactics of bus operators.
The Local Transport Bill was introduced, in part, to make it easier to introduce QCs.
The Lib Dems were able to force the Government to give the final say to Local Authorities, which will make it far easier for Local Authorities and PTAs to introduce QCs and improve local bus services.
"The Tories voted against the Bill at Second Reading and Third Reading - they are seemingly opposed to improving local bus services!" said Nigel Bennett
What is a Quality Contract?
Under a Quality Contract (QC) scheme, the deregulated network is suspended (for a variety of reasons, mostly linked to poor service provision). The local authority then gives out exclusive contracts to run specific services with different companies competing for this contract. Although this system could hold many benefits for local passengers, several aspects of QCs needed to be changed so that local authorities can feel confident when implementing them. The new powers will allow this.
"The quality contract route…. provides the opportunity for local authorities to have responsibility for transport in their areas." said Lib Dem Norman Baker MP
Lib Dem Transport Spokesman John Leech MP said:
"Bus companies have used deregulation as a way of making services more profitable by cutting out parts of routes that are less profitable or that affect reliability… the bus companies have attempted to hold the passenger transport authority to ransom on some routes by demanding subsidies to run services for part of the day, particularly in the evenings. When passenger transport authorities have been unable to add that subsidy, the services have disappeared."
The Tories are opposed to QCs and the Lib Dems challenge them on putting Bus Companies first and passengers last.
Their Transport Spokesperson Stephen Hammond said:
"We believe that they (QCs) will be detrimental, and a future Conservative Government will repeal them."
"I have 5 simple questions for the Conservatives at Suffolk County Council and I am sure we will all look forward to their responses." said Nigel Bennett
• Have services improved or got worse since deregulation?
• Do you support plans to give transport authorities more power and control over bus services through Quality Contracts?
• Do you support Conservative plans to scrap Quality Contracts and allow bus operators to dictate services in your local area?
• Would you support additional powers for Local Authorities to provide improved bus services?
• Do you intend to use the powers given to you in the new Bill to implement Quality Contracts?
What would you like to do next?
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