§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the total number of operators of stage carriage services in the United Kingdom in each year since 1965.
§ Mr. David MitchellIn each of the years 1982 to the financial year 1985–86 there were about 1,300 operators of stage services in Great Britain. Results for earlier years are not available. Comparable results for 1986–87 have not been finalised, but the available evidence suggests that there has been a substantial rise in the number of operators of local services since deregulation.