Hansard

It is on record.

Earlier this year, we agreed changes to the reimbursement rate with the Confederation of Passenger Transport that make the scheme more sustainable. Bus subsidy is also provided as the bus service operators grant, which is paid directly to bus operators. The BSOG benefits passengers by helping operators to keep their fares down, by enabling operators to run services that are less commercially viable and by supporting the bus network. From April 2010, we removed the link to fuel duty through the BSOG and introduced incentives for operators to run low-carbon vehicles to help in achieving our climate change targets. That is something that we can further address if the fuel stabiliser that was agreed by the Scottish Parliament is eventually adopted at Westminster. In 2010-11, £66.5 million is available for mileage run, which was agreed with the CPT on the understanding that operators would seek to minimise reductions in mileage.

Charlie Gordon also mentioned the Scottish green bus fund, which was promoted by the likes of Michael Matheson long before the Labour Party jumped on to that particular bus. The Government launched the Scottish green bus fund in July 2010 to encourage the purchase of low-carbon vehicles. The scheme funds the difference in cost between a low-carbon vehicle and a diesel equivalent. The fund of £4.4 million will enable 48 vehicles to be ordered for Scottish services throughout the country. Low-carbon vehicles allow growth in patronage to be increasingly favourable due to the reduction in emissions per passenger. The fund also enables economies of scale to apply to bus manufacturing, thereby enabling increasing numbers of low-carbon vehicles to operate in Scotland.

In addition, we have sought to address the increasing problem of poor air quality in our cities by making available funding to retrofit particulate traps on buses. I am delighted to announce that, in this financial year, both Glasgow and Edinburgh will benefit from funding to the tune of £524,000. That will allow their citizens to benefit from improved air quality as the retrofitting is carried out on city centre bus services.

I have mentioned fuel costs. The steep increases that we have seen recently threaten the economy and disproportionately penalise rural areas. For that reason, the Scottish Government calls for the Westminster Government to introduce a fuel duty regulator to mitigate the effect on prices, on individuals and on the wider economy. I do not think that it is possible for Labour members to hide their recent shameful abstention on the issue in trying to portray themselves as champions for bus passengers. A large part of the cost of running buses is fuel duty and the Parliament has voted in favour of a fuel duty stabiliser, a derogation for rural areas and the forgoing of Labour’s proposed increase in fuel duty this year in order to benefit passengers.

Buses provide the sustainable mass public transport that is necessary to support economic growth while minimising the impact of transport on the environment—we must try to strike a balance. Given the suite of policy initiatives that the Government has taken, we can at least accept that we have sought to achieve that balance; however, we must always re-examine, at different stages, whether the balance that has been struck is the right one, and we should commit to doing that. Central to our policy has been the view that the bus has an important role to play in achieving modal shift, which is the major deliverable in helping to achieve our climate change targets.

As we have demonstrated, the Scottish Government provides significant funding to the industry, which, as I have outlined, will increasingly incentivise investment in developing a modern vehicle fleet and reducing its environmental impact. We have provided detailed guidance on essential policy tools for operators and local authorities. I submit that those tools are sufficient to address the needs of local authority provision of bus services and that there is no requirement for further regulation. However, there is a need for transport to be given its appropriate priority and for partnership working across local authorities and with bus operators to achieve transport aims.

Given its flexibility, efficiency and accessibility, the bus is an essential part of our community, our economy and our future. I encourage all those who are involved across the public and private sectors to work together to seize the potential of a positive future for buses.

I move amendment S3M-8177.1, to leave out from “believes” to end and insert:

“notes the Labour proposals for regulation of bus services; recognises the important role that bus services provide to communities across Scotland; welcomes the Scottish Government’s investment of almost £250 million in the bus network, including funding for the national concessionary travel scheme, the Bus Service Operators Grant, which supports the bus network, investment of £4.4 million in the Scottish Green Bus Fund and over £500,000 in retrofitting particulate traps in buses that help reduce costs, and calls for more practical support for passengers and bus companies including the introduction of a fuel duty regulator, as agreed by the Parliament on 2 March 2011, which would be of genuine help to bus users, reducing costs, unlike Labour proposals on VAT, which can be reclaimed and would make no difference to bus companies or users.”

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