National Bus Company 5.27 The negotiation of working agreements by

20th September 1968, Page 220

20th September 1968

Page 220

Page 220, 20th September 1968 — National Bus Company 5.27 The negotiation of working agreements by

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the Executives will be greatly facilitated by the fact that, excluding London and municipalities, three-quarters of stage-carriage services (in terms of mileage) are operated by the Tilling and BET companies, which the National Bus Company will inherit from the Transport Holding Company. Indeed, a statutory duty will be placed on the NBC and PTEs to co-operate with one another.

5.28 Any agreement between a PTE and a bus company will need to be negotiated on a normal commercial basis as otherwise the viability of the company will be undermined; and the National Bus Company will be unable to discharge its statutory financial duty of so conducting its businesses as to ensure that its "revenue is not less than sufficient for making provision for the meeting of charges properly chargeable to revenue, taking one year with another".

5.29 The NBC will consist of a chairman appointed by the Minister; and five to 10 other members appointed by the Minister after consultation with the chairman.

5.30 Again, not surprisingly, I would hope that the company structure will be preserved and that the NBC will be a kind of statutory holding company not unlike the THC. Naturally there will be some differences between the NBC and the THC, if only because the former has a homogeneity not possessed by the THC. But the principles of manageability, accountability and localized identity seem to me to be of overwhelming desirability.