§ 38. Mr. Boxasked the Minister of Transport if he will give a general direction to the Traffic Commissioners to give sympathetic consideration to applications by local authorities for licences to run their own bus services where other transport facilities have been closed or reduced.
§ Mr. HayNo, Sir. Traffic Commissioners are very ready to consider any applications under the Road Traffic Act, 1960, from local authorities with the 1317 necessary statutory powers, or from anyone else, to replace transport facilities which have been withdrawn or reduced.
§ Mr. BoxIs ray hon. Friend aware that there are a number of isolated communities in Wales which are very concerned at the withdrawal of road and rail services? Will he not reconsider the matter and see whether some assistance could be given to local authorities to run these services where private enterprise bus companies are unwilling to provide them?
§ Mr. HayNo, Sir. As I said, the Traffic Commissioners are always ready to consider applications from anybody, whether local authorities or private people. The difficulty in South Wales, as in many other parts of the country, is not the absence of powers but the absence of passengers.
§ Mr. RidleyIf my hon. Friend cannot help in the way suggested, can he at least tell us when he will provide some solution to this very pressing problem?
§ Mr. HayIt is not necessarily the obligation of my right hon. Friend to provide a solution for this difficult problem. There are a great many difficult points involved, the principal one being that traffic is declining. There is nothing my right hon. Friend can do to stimulate traffic either for the buses or for the railways.
§ Mr. ManuelWill the hon. Gentleman recognise that when a rural area, or any area, is denuded of rail or road public services, he must not do as is suggested by the hon. Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Box) and ask the local authority to undertake these uneconomic services? The onus must be carried by the Government in providing this social necessity in such areas.