§ 7. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Minister of Transport if he will make a statement on his policy of subsidies for rural transport services.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeLocal authorities must decide what they can afford to spend, within expenditure ceilings, on subsidising those services which meet specific social needs.
§ Mr. HamiltonDoes the hon. Gentleman believe that adequate rural services can be provided on the basis of the philosophy of the Conservative Party, namely, private enterprise motivated by pure profit, with no subsidies? In view of the escalating costs of oil and other forms of energy and the swingeing increase in VAT and other indirect taxes, does the hon. Gentleman agree that rural communities will be hard hit by the measures? Unless the hon. Gentleman gives a firm undertaking that the Government and Conservative-controlled local authorities are prepared to underwrite transport services with subsidies, rural areas will become deserts.
§ Mr. ClarkeThere are specific social needs that indicate the continuing need for subsidies. The local authorities will have to create those subsidies within their spending programmes. We believe that there is scope for bringing new forms of transport services into rural areas. For instance, in our policy on traffic commissioners we visualise that it will be easier for private operators to extend services into rural areas.