§ Mr. Heddleasked the Minister of Transport whether he has any plans for allowing school bus services to carry fare-paying passengers.
§ Mr. FowlerAt present, the only school buses which can be licensed to carry adult fare-paying passengers are those run by PSV operators under contract to local authorities. Local education authority-owned vehicles can carry fare-paying schoolchildren with the consent of the traffic commissioners, but they cannot carry adult passengers.
My Department has been considering whether better use could be made of existing transport resources if the law were changed so that vehicles owned by local education authorities were able to carry adult fare-paying passengers where there was spare capacity. A survey of local education authorities is now being carried out to assess the capacity available.