§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has as to the effect of the548W deregulation of local bus services in England and Wales on (a) the number of buses in service since October 1986; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloInformation is not available on the number of routes or the overall number of buses of all types used on local services. It is, however, known that the number of bus miles operated on local services in England and Wales was 917.6 million in 1985–86 and 1,070.6 million by May 1988—an increase of 16.5 per cent. Research by the Polytechnic of Central London has also shown that over the country as a whole the number of minibuses on local services has increased from 400 operating in 40 places before deregulation to 5,600 in over 400 places.