Businesses may back the buses
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/ The Department of Transport is looking at a scheme which could empower local authorities to levy a tax on businesses to help pay for improved bus services.
Such a system is already used in France.
Bill Morris, deputy general secretary of the Transport & General Workers' Union, says: "This has always been a policy of the TGWU. Labour is the only commodity which an employer does not pay transport costs towards. "We would like to see the amount raised matched by Government, pound for pound. But we would not like to see business overburdened and jobs put at risk," adds Morris.
David Watson of the Bus & Coach Council agrees: "On the face of it the idea appears attractive, but we would need to see exactly what the implications are."