Govt welcomes Aberdeen service scheme
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• A Government spokesman has welcomed the initiative by Aberdeen county council to work out a mutually satisfactory arrangement between the local authorities and the major bus operators in the north east of Scotland for the maintenance of essential rural bus services throughout the area.
And when Lieut-Col Colin Mitchell (Tory, West Aberdeen) pointed out that the major operators believed these services were bound to run at a loss, the spokesman, Mr Alick Buchanan-Smith, an Under-Secretary at the Scottish Office, replied that it was significant that the services that had been proposed for assistance numbered 27 uneconomic routes, at a cost of £148,000 a year.
This indicated, he said, the concern of the local authority in the area to be of help in this matter.
Mr Neil Carmichael (Labour, Woodside) suggested that the national grant for some services should be increased, in view of the big burden that fell on some local authorities, and Mr Buchanan-Smith said he had noted the remark. The extent of Government financial assistance was quite large.