Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011
17 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Bus Services Regulation
I was intrigued when news filtered out that Labour was to set aside the whole of this morning’s debate—the last major debate of this parliamentary session—for a debate on transport. I wondered whether, after all, something new and interesting was coming. After a fortnight of the most spectacular basket of U-turns in recent Scottish political history, what could it be? Was the U-turn and knifing of Des McNulty over a graduate contribution to fund higher education, followed by the self-immolation of Mr Gray over his own ringing calls for a council tax increase, followed by the dissection of Mr Kerr’s accident and emergency hospital closure plans to be followed by a similar or even more spectacular volte face by Mr Gordon on transport? Will I never learn? Instead, we have had a replay of Charlie Gordon’s greatest hits and prejudices—an end-of-session blast from an old-Labour, hard-left rock-and-roll tribute act. In front of backing singers Mary Mulligan and Karen Gillon sits Charlie Gordon, the brains and the familiar gravelly voice of the band—the Mick Jagger of the act.
Today promised so much but, sadly for old tribute acts performing many of their old tunes, fashions have changed and it all sounds hopelessly dated. Bus regulation, alleged market failure, legislation—the same old litany, repeated often enough in the hope that, eventually, repetition will make a truth out of a demonstrable nonsense.
Scotland’s bus industry is far from a market failure. It is a market success and a world-class and industry-leading success at that. Mr Brown detailed examples that show that that is the case. In the most recently published industry survey, only 5 per cent of the travelling public, whose best interests Mr Gordon sets out to represent, rated their level of bus service as poor. On the contrary, more recent statistics illustrate that 73 per cent of people believe that buses are on time, 80 per cent believe them to be frequent, 75 per cent believe that they operate when they are needed and so on and so forth.
Today promised so much but, sadly for old tribute acts performing many of their old tunes, fashions have changed and it all sounds hopelessly dated. Bus regulation, alleged market failure, legislation—the same old litany, repeated often enough in the hope that, eventually, repetition will make a truth out of a demonstrable nonsense.
Scotland’s bus industry is far from a market failure. It is a market success and a world-class and industry-leading success at that. Mr Brown detailed examples that show that that is the case. In the most recently published industry survey, only 5 per cent of the travelling public, whose best interests Mr Gordon sets out to represent, rated their level of bus service as poor. On the contrary, more recent statistics illustrate that 73 per cent of people believe that buses are on time, 80 per cent believe them to be frequent, 75 per cent believe that they operate when they are needed and so on and so forth.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson)
NPA
Good morning. The first item of business this morning is a Labour Party debate on motion S3M-8177, in the name of Charlie Gordon, on transport.09:15
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab)
Lab
Our previous full-scale debate on local bus services was way back on 12 June 2008. That is not to say that Labour has not campaigned relentlessly before and ...
Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD)
LD
I am intrigued by Charlie Gordon’s direction of travel. He complains about market failure, but he seems to be suggesting that he is looking for market monopo...
Charlie Gordon
Lab
Not for the first time, Mr Brown is wrong. If he listens for a bit longer, he will learn.The traffic commissioner continued:“Thus, Edinburgh has Lothian Bus ...
The Minister for Transport and Infrastructure (Keith Brown)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Charlie Gordon
Lab
I am sorry, but I do not have time: maybe later. I pressed Mr Swinney at that meeting by asking:“Are you now saying that the deal that was done”—that was the...
The Minister for Transport and Infrastructure (Keith Brown)
SNP
Today’s debate provides a timely opportunity to discuss the bus industry, assess its current status and consider what improvements can be made to ensure the ...
Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab)
Lab
What?
Keith Brown
SNP
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 sustai...
Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con)
Con
I was intrigued when news filtered out that Labour was to set aside the whole of this morning’s debate—the last major debate of this parliamentary session—fo...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Will the member give way?
Jackson Carlaw
Con
I do not think that I will, today.Scotland’s bus industry is an important private sector contributor to our gross domestic product at a time when there is ar...
Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD)
LD
As Jackson Carlaw said, we have been here before. It is a bit like groundhog day.Charlie Gordon has revisited a proposal that he knows has no majority suppor...
Keith Brown
SNP
Does Alison McInnes acknowledge that the bus route development scheme was not abolished, but was given to local authorities and mainstreamed into their funding?
Alison McInnes
LD
It has been disaggregated to the point at which it is of little value to anyone. It is not enough to roll out new services and it has not been used in that w...
Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab)
Lab
I thank Jackson Carlaw for his comments, as I have seldom had so many compliments in one speech. However, for the record, I am more of a Cliff Richard girl t...
Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP)
SNP
Let me declare a personal interest in the debate: I am a bus card holder. I note that the only bus card holders who are likely to participate in the debate a...
Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab)
Lab
The issue of transport, and in particular buses, is extremely important to people in my constituency and in similar communities throughout Scotland that rely...
Stewart Stevenson
SNP
Will Elaine Smith take an intervention?
Elaine Smith
Lab
No, thank you—Stewart Stevenson had the opportunity as a minister to put guards on the trains.In a transport debate, I cannot miss the opportunity to mention...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Alasdair Morgan)
SNP
Order. I hope that Elaine Smith will return to buses, which seem to me to be the subject of the motion.
Elaine Smith
Lab
I certainly will, but we need to consider transport in the round to see how important buses are.The number of trains from Coatbridge to Edinburgh on the new ...
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
For the avoidance of doubt, the question of bus regulation was not ever in the SNP manifesto.In the debate, we are trying to look forward to find ways to ens...
Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD)
LD
I am grateful to Charlie Gordon for focusing on bus travel in the last party debate before the election. However, as I said in an intervention, there is a co...
Charlie Gordon
Lab
I cited the transport commissioner, who described most of the bus scene in Scotland as a monopoly and near-monopoly city and county arrangement. Does the mem...
Robert Brown
LD
No, I am trying to put the issue into context and to explain the deficiency at the heart of the member’s proposition.I will say a little more about Glasgow. ...
Keith Brown
SNP
Could Robert Brown explain how his party’s policy of doing away with concessionary travel support will help more women to use the buses?
Robert Brown
LD
Perhaps the minister should read the policy. We have certainly said that there is a need to consider whether people such as me are entitled—as Stewart Steven...
Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab)
Lab
A fortnight ago, we had a by-election in Clydebank—in the Duntocher, Faifley and Hardgate ward. The key issue in that by-election was buses, specifically the...
Christopher Harvie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP)
SNP
I declare that I am president of the Scottish Association for Public Transport, which has provided a memo for members setting out a useful range of pragmatic...