HC Deb 21 April 1986 vol 96 cc7-8
5. Mr. Dixon

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what improvements in customer services he expects from the privatisation of the National Bus Company in seperate sections.

Mr. Ridley

The separate sale of NBC's individual subsidiaries will promote more competition in the bus industry. Deregulation and competition will give operators the freedom and incentive to provide the bus services which best meet the needs of the travelling public.

Mr. Dixon

The Secretary of State must know that unions have already been notified of massive redundancies within the bus service. My constituents have been informed of drastic cuts in bus services in their areas. Many of the warnings given by my right hon. and hon. Friends during consideration of the Transport Bill are now being proved to have been right. Many will find themselves without bus services as the effects of that measure are felt.

Mr. Ridley

The hon. Gentleman may know that the National Bus Company has reduced its work force over the past 10 years from 70,000 to 50,000 because the system of decline and subsidy was allowed to continue. I expect that there will be an increase in employment in the bus industry as demand picks up due to competition. It is time that the Labour party stopped trying to pretend that services which have not been registered will not be run. Labour Members know that stage one is to register commercial services and stage two involves local authorities going out to tender to fill the gaps that they think exist. It is misleading, scaremongering and irresponsible for hon. Members to pretend that stage one is the only stage.

Sir Fergus Montgomery

Will my right hon. Friend say whether there is any evidence that new types of services are being introduced?

Mr. Ridley

Yes, Sir. My hon. Friend will be glad to know that minibuses were first introduced in Exeter as a result of the publication of the Transport Bill. Minibuses are now in Bristol, Bath, Dartmouth, Luton, Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, Taunton and Leicester. They are already greatly increasing patronage and the number of drivers in employment. At the same time, they are showing a much better financial performance than the old, large buses. This is a direct result of the Transport Act, a measure which Labour Members opposed so passionately and wrongly when it was passing through the House.

Mr. Allen McKay

Will the Secretary of State tell Richard Benson, who is one of my constituents, and his fellow travellers—[Interruption.] These constituents have discovered that the first bus to operate in the Penistone area will start on its route at 8 am and that the last bus to serve the area will leave at 6 pm. Will the right hon. Gentleman tell Richard Benson how he is to get to work and how others will be able to visit hospitals, for example, when the last bus leaves at 6 pm?

Mr. Ridley

It is clear that the hon. Gentleman's informants are fellow travellers. They are trying to spread alarm and despondency without revealing the full nature of the facts. He knows—if he does not, I am telling him—that the local authority in his constituency has the power and the money to let an operator provide early morning and evening services by means of tender and contract. The hon. Gentleman can explain to his constituents that that is the fact, instead of perpetuating myths that are typical of fellow travellers.