Bus Fares Will Not be Referred to Prices Board
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ISES in bus fares will not be referred to the National Board for Prices and Incomes. Economics Minister Mr. George Brown, who said this in the Commons last week, told MPs that he and the Minister of Transport were watching the position closely, "but we believe that the statutory procedures for regulating provincial bus fares laid down under the Road Tragic Acts are sufficient to ensure that the national interest is taken fully into account ". He did not think therefore that reference to the Board at this stage would be appropriate.
One of the MPs who had asked him to do this, Mr. Neil McBride (Labour,
Swansea East), recalled the "strenuous opposition" offered to increases earlier in the month by 40 local authorities in South Wales. Would Mr. Brown not agree that in many cases these increases in fares cushioned inefficiency on the part of many private operators?
Mr. Brown replied that he had been asked only whether he would refer the increases to the Board—and he noted that in the East Midlands area quite recently the Commissioners had actually refused applications. So long as they had these powers and used them in this way it would seem wrong to require a double reference for the same purpose.