§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to encourage and support private sector involvement in bus transportation in Northern Ireland. [HL2854]
§ Lord Williams of MostynFinancial support is already available to private operators of scheduled bus services in Northern Ireland in the form of a rebate on fuel excise duty and concessionary fares grants.
In a consultation document issued in September 2003, entitled A New Start for Public Transport in Northern Ireland, the department set out proposals which included the progressive opening up of the public transport market to private sector participation. The next stage in this process has included the department commissioning review of the regulation of bus services with the aim of developing a new regulatory framework within which a publicly owned public transport company would continue to have a lead role in the provision of bus services but within a market that may be opened up progressively to private sector involvement. The study is to be completed in November 2003 and will be subject to further consideration thereafter.