§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Cambridgeshire, North-East of 14 January, whether he will now estimate the current value of cross subsidy in the bus service.
§ Mr. David MitchellAppendix B of the White Paper "Buses" (Cmnd. 9300), discussed the available information on cross subsidy in the bus industry. Subsequently the National Bus Company has suggested that the level of cross subsidy which it might withdraw on deregulation was £122 million, or twice the amount of direct revenue subsidy. The amount of cross subsidy at risk in passenger transport areas is likely to be relatively smaller, because of the higher incidence of direct subsidy. No specific estimate is available for cross subsidy by municipal undertakings or the private sector which might be withdrawn following deregulation.