No delay: Ridley
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NO FURTHER prolonged period of consultation will be allowed before the publication of the next Transport Bill, Transport Secretary Nicholas Ridley said in his address to the "Buses Revolution" conference at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Any extension would mean a delay of a year and that would mean that the hiatus, uncertainty and doubt would continue for far too long.
Both the passengers' and the industry's interests are best served by getting on with it now. Debate and discussion and decision will soon switch to the Parliamentary forum, he said.
He said that most people agreed that going on as now is not a possible choice. Higher costs, declining services, higher fares and rising subsidies are not a recipe for the future.
He praised Burnley and Pendle transport manager Roy Marshall for telling his workforce that they face a challenge and that fundamental changes were needed to enable the restructure into companies to become competitive and to safeguard their future.
Mr Ridley said this was a sensible and typical reaction and one that he welcomed.
There must be innovation, he said, and he gave the National Bus Company Exeter minibus operation as an example of what can be done. He said that many would have liked to have set up similar services before now. Social needs must be protected. Local authorities will be free to determine arrangements for concessionary fares in their areas, but he stressed that all operators must be entitled to participate in these schemes. Concessionary fares must not become a secret subsidy to any particular operator.
He said he had not yet matte up his mind on the role of the county councils after deregulation. There was a case for them to act as the registration authority, but there also was a case for the Licensing Authority as he would have the sanction to revoke an operator licence.
He understood the particular worry that competition will enter a route and "cream off" an integral part of the service and he said that this risk would put more of an obligation on tenderers to examine the market carefully and consider the price they offer and what competition they may be exposed to.