Does Mr. Marples Like Jack Report?
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FIRST reactions to the Jack Committee report on rural bus services among M.P.s of all parties would seem to indicate that there will be more support for the remission of fuel tax than for the direct subsidies proposed by the majority of the committee, writes our Political Correspondent.
Labour members are claiming, as Mr. H. R. Nicholas, assistant general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union did in his dissenting report, that the lack of socially necessary services in remote areas can be overcome only by a return to a nationalized road transport system.
Granting that at the moment this is " pie in the sky," they would probably come down in favour of direct subsidies to rural bus service operators, because they see the point of the sums submitted to the committee by the Public Transport Association. These showed that a sample group of 19 companies incurred a loss of i1,300,000 on rural services, but the remission of fuel tax would only give them relief to the extent of £715,000.
Labour M.P.s foresee all kinds of difficulties arising, not only from the geographic limitations of county council administration, but also from the conflicts that would arise between Labourand Conservative-controlled councils. Thus, there are some Labour men who argue that if the unremunerative rural services can be properly defined—and they would give the Traffic Commissioners the job of doing this—the subsidy should be distributed through some other agency.
What matters most is what the Conservative M.P.s think about the report. The Minister of Transport, Mr. Marples, in his first comment on it gave a clear hint that the Government will have to consider the proposed subsidy in the light of the reorganization of transport generally.
Yet those Conservative M.P.s who specialize in transport matters see that there is a very real problem and that assistance must be given in some form. Mr. Rupert Speir, the Conservative member for Hexham, whose campaign calling attention to the troubles of rural transport operators led to the setting up of the Jack Committee, will try to get the views of the Government when he initiates an adjournment debate in the Commons next Tuesday.
By all accounts, neither the Minister nor the Government have yet come to a decision; indeed, there is reason to think that the Minister regards the report as another example of how a committee, having done valuable work, can do no more than return the baby to the Government's doorstep.
Mr. Speir will urge the Government quickly to adopt the solution proposed in the minority report of Mr. W. T. James, a former B.E.T. director and former chairman of the Public Transport Association, recommending a selective remission of fuel tax. Mr. Speir believes that there is a majority in the Conservative Party who favour tax remission, and who believe that the Traffic Commissioners would have no difficulty in defining the rural services.
There is much support on the Conservative side for Mr. James' statement that subsidies administered by county councils would depend not on facts but on the ebb and flow of party politics.
Other comments on the report are on page 248