§ Mr. James Whiteasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the consultations about consumer representation in the bus industry, mentioned in paragraph 39 of the nationalised industries White Paper.
Mr. MilianThe Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, consumer interests and the bus industry were asked for their views on the possible extension to Scot-land of arrangements for consumer representation in the bus industry similar to those proposed for England and Wales,740W and outlined in the White Paper to which my hon. Friend refers. Broadly speaking such an extension was strongly supported by consumer interest, including the Trans-port Users' Consultative Committee for Scotland and the Scottish Consumer Council; the bus industry did not oppose it; but local authority interests saw no need for change in the present arrangements. Under the Scotland Act local trans-port is a devolved subject, and I have concluded that it would be preferable to make no change for the present in advance of devolution.