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AN ATTEMPT to stop bus companies being referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission under the Competition Bill has been dropped.
Lord Teviot moved, and later withdrew, an amendment to the Bill which would have removed "further controls which, in the light of what control already exists, are deemed unnecessary by the road passenger transport industry".
He reviewed the present investigations possible under existing law, which would continue if the 1979 Transport Bill became law in its present form. The apparent original intention of the Competition Bill was to include such public undertakings as National Bus, said Lord Teviot.
But as the wording was now, it included all corporate bodies which provided a bus service. Only small sole owners and partnerships were excluded and the industry felt this was unfair.
Minister of State for Industry Viscount Trenchard, told him it was not intended to cut across transport policies laid down or to question their detailed foundations. But it was thought that independent scrutiny should apply to these organisations as to any other.
The justification for including bus undertakings, other than public corporations answerable to Ministers, was that the providers of the 'services were protected from competition, and independent scrutiny should be allowed to operate, went on Lord Trenchard.
It was true that bus services would operate in a more competitive environment when the Transport Bill became law, but the Traffic Commissioners would still be able to grant monopolies to local stage operators' services, and it was right to retain the power to examine them.