§ General COLVINasked the President of the Local Government Board whether, having regard to the damage done by motor omnibuses to roads in rural districts, the difficulty and expense of repairing them, and keeping them watered, he will consider the advisability, in wartime, of public conveyances for which petrol is released being restricted to the actual needs required for the conveyance of the public and not being used for pleasure purposes?
§ Mr. WARDLEI have been asked by my right hon. Friend to answer this question. Motor-omnibus services are 2407W restricted by the Motor Spirit (Consolidation) and Gas Restriction Order, 1918, to routes upon which omnibuses were accustomed to ply during December, 1917, or to routes certified by the police to be necessary or desirable in the interests of the travelling public. Services which were running in the month of December are not likely to be pleasure services, and it would be difficult to differentiate between the passengers on these routes in order to eliminate unnecessary use. The possibility for the necessity of exercising further control has not, however, been lost sight of.