HC Deb 25 March 1981 vol 1 cc919-21
16. Mr. Iain Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he is satisfied 'with progress on the setting up of new rural small bus services under the provisions of the Transport Act 1980.

Mr. Fowler

Yes, Sir. I am impressed by the efforts being made by local authorities, local bus operators and a range of voluntary organisations to improve transport services in rural areas.

Mr. Mills

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware that in my constituency the Transport Act 1980 has allowed the setting up a small bus which travels in the Marston Green area twice a week, fitting in flexibly., in line with the Act? Will he join me in congratulating councillor Peter Kellie for arranging this rural bus service?

Mr. Fowler

Yes, certainly. More generally, the Act makes it easier for independent operators to obtain licences. I hope that the opportunities provided by the Act are more fully grasped.

Mr. Prescott

While the 1980 Act may have produced "Kellie's bus" the evidence shows that more and more rural services are closing down all over the country. In view of the Budget decision to raise petrol prices by 20p, and since people in rural areas will be denied any services, will the right hon. Gentleman carry out a survey to discover the facts about transport facilities for people in rural areas?

Mr. Fowler

I shall certainly consider such a survey. However, the hon. Gentleman will realise that the decline in rural bus services has taked place over the past 25 years, under the old licensing system. We have introduced new opportunities. I am glad to be able to tell the House that there are signs in places such as Exeter, Somerset, Dorset, Leicestershire, the Grimsby area and Bexhill of new services developing. I am sure that that is what needs to be done.

Mr. Cormack

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the recent increase in petrol prices will make it increasingly difficult for elderly people in rural areas to get out? Will he set up a committee to consider the establishment of a national scheme for concessionary fares for elderly people?

Mr. Fowler

I shall not set up a committee to do that, but clearly one of the purposes of the Act is to provide new opportunities for providing transport for the aged and for all the people who live in country areas. I remind my hon. Friend that a national concessionary scheme would have serious implications for public expenditure.

Mr. Skinner

Was not the Minister indulging in a bout of hypocrisy when he replied to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) about the increased price of petrol and running down of rural bus services, particularly when the Tory Party, during the 1979 general election campaign, said over and again that it intended to remove all the past ills, set up rural bus services where none existed, and to improve bus services where they were weak? None of those things has been done. Why will not the Minister acknowledge that the Government must now reduce the prices of such items as petrol and increase subsidies in order to get these rural bus services on the move?

Mr. Fowler

The hon. Gentleman's diagnosis is entirely incorrect. The Transport Act 1980 created new opportunities for licensing conditions. Whatever else may divide us, it is surely a matter of common sense not to put obstacles in the way of new bus services being set up.