§ 35. Mr. Loydenasked the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from the trade unions covering passenger transport about the affects of the Transport Act 1985 on bus services.
§ Mr. David MitchellI have received a number of representations. Among the points I have made in reply has been that local bus services were in long-run decline before the implementation of the Transport Act 1985, and that in the past ten years employment in the bus and coach industry as a whole has fallen by some 22 per cent. In the National Bus Company alone, over 20,000 odd jobs have been lost in that period. The Transport Act gives the bus industry new opportunities to break out of its spiral of decline and there is every reason to believe that in most of the country it will succeed in doing so.