Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2011
17 Mar 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Bus Services Regulation
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 support. That is borne out by the amendments to his motion that have been lodged. In fact, he could not even garner enough support to take forward a member’s bill on the subject beyond the preliminary stage. That constant harking back only distracts from the real issues. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 contains adequate provision for statutory quality partnerships and quality contracts. The fact that those mechanisms have not been much used suggests to me that local authorities find a collaborative approach to be much more fruitful. I am also pretty sure that local authorities are mindful of the costs that would befall them from intervention in the market.
We can easily find examples of innovation and success in the bus industry throughout Scotland, with the possible exception of parts of Glasgow. If the Labour Party and its representatives on regional and local transport authorities in Glasgow had spent a fraction of the time and effort that they have expended in the past decade on trying to get support for reregulation on actually working with the bus industry, we would have seen a step change in bus services in Glasgow.
In Scotland, we have the benefit of world-class, home-grown bus operators in FirstBus, Stagecoach and Lothian Buses, besides many good local independent operators. The most effective and lasting improvements to the bus network have come from partnership working that has involved the industry, local authorities, regional transport partnerships and the Government. Where councils foster a supportive environment, we find evidence of the commercial market growing the network. For example, Stagecoach and National Express are partners with Dundee City Council and Angus Council in a bus punctuality improvement partnership, and Renfrewshire Council, South Ayrshire Council and Glasgow City Council are all working with operators to create statutory quality partnerships, which will see all parties committing to improving the services and bus infrastructure that are available to the travelling public. The City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian Buses recently completed a pioneering scheme that involved older vehicles being retrofitted with exhaust technology that markedly improved their emissions levels.
The provision of first-class, flexible bus services involves a package of measures, and is as much about what happens off as on the buses. The improvements that are rightly expected from the industry, such as in modern buses, value-for-money fares, consistency and reliability, must be supported by public investment in infrastructure, whether that is in measures to ensure that buses do not get caught up in congestion, park-and-ride schemes or up-to-the-minute timetabling information. Innovation and investment from bus companies must be matched by commitment and investment from local and national Government.
I am not pretending that everyone has the bus services that they would like. Bus routes have been cancelled and fares have risen. In response to local concerns, I conducted a bus survey in rural Aberdeenshire recently and found clear evidence of inadequate services. My response to that was not to call for the reregulation of the bus industry; rather, it was to meet local operators, the local council and even local social enterprises to see what improvements could be made. The early indications are that some improvements could be brought in.
Few, if any, local authorities would relish taking on the task of the wholesale planning and funding of local bus services. We all know already of councils that are cutting back on their supported bus services because of the financial pressures that they face. The truth is that a cheque book would help, not the statute book.
Of course there are gaps in the market, but much more could be done within the existing framework to encourage the greater take-up of bus services. In a recent inquiry, the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee considered the relationship between transport and land use planning and made a number of sensible suggestions on future developments. The Government’s report on proposals and policies, which we discussed yesterday, notes that greater focus on travel planning would make a difference. Larger employers should work closely with bus operators to identify commuting and working hours patterns to help to trial new services.
Greater attention to passenger priority measures would allow operators to use their resources better to provide a greater network of services. Resources are unnecessarily tied up in dealing with the impacts of congestion in our towns and cities. In some parts of Scotland, overall journey times have increased by as much as 12.5 per cent in the past five years. That increases bus companies’ operating costs without generating additional fares income. It disappoints me that, in Aberdeen, which is in my region, no new bus priority measures have been introduced for many years. That has meant longer journey times for passengers and higher operational costs for bus operators. Stagecoach reports that an extra seven buses are required to maintain service reliability because of congestion in Aberdeen city centre, at an additional cost of about £650,000 a year. Surely that money could be better spent on developing new routes or more frequent services.
The Government has been, at best, ambivalent about the bus industry. In the early years, it cut the BSOG and had lengthy wrangles over the concessionary fares reimbursement formula. It ended the rural transport fund, hindering rural communities in finding local solutions. Community transport and demand-responsive transport must be recognised as essential partners in providing a joined-up bus network. The bus route development scheme was abolished, despite having been successful at growing markets. Liberal Democrats would like that to be reinstated.
Charlie Gordon has revisited a proposal that he knows has no majority support. That is borne out by the amendments to his motion that have been lodged. In fact, he could not even garner enough support to take forward a member’s bill on the subject beyond the preliminary stage. That constant harking back only distracts from the real issues. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 contains adequate provision for statutory quality partnerships and quality contracts. The fact that those mechanisms have not been much used suggests to me that local authorities find a collaborative approach to be much more fruitful. I am also pretty sure that local authorities are mindful of the costs that would befall them from intervention in the market.
We can easily find examples of innovation and success in the bus industry throughout Scotland, with the possible exception of parts of Glasgow. If the Labour Party and its representatives on regional and local transport authorities in Glasgow had spent a fraction of the time and effort that they have expended in the past decade on trying to get support for reregulation on actually working with the bus industry, we would have seen a step change in bus services in Glasgow.
In Scotland, we have the benefit of world-class, home-grown bus operators in FirstBus, Stagecoach and Lothian Buses, besides many good local independent operators. The most effective and lasting improvements to the bus network have come from partnership working that has involved the industry, local authorities, regional transport partnerships and the Government. Where councils foster a supportive environment, we find evidence of the commercial market growing the network. For example, Stagecoach and National Express are partners with Dundee City Council and Angus Council in a bus punctuality improvement partnership, and Renfrewshire Council, South Ayrshire Council and Glasgow City Council are all working with operators to create statutory quality partnerships, which will see all parties committing to improving the services and bus infrastructure that are available to the travelling public. The City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian Buses recently completed a pioneering scheme that involved older vehicles being retrofitted with exhaust technology that markedly improved their emissions levels.
The provision of first-class, flexible bus services involves a package of measures, and is as much about what happens off as on the buses. The improvements that are rightly expected from the industry, such as in modern buses, value-for-money fares, consistency and reliability, must be supported by public investment in infrastructure, whether that is in measures to ensure that buses do not get caught up in congestion, park-and-ride schemes or up-to-the-minute timetabling information. Innovation and investment from bus companies must be matched by commitment and investment from local and national Government.
I am not pretending that everyone has the bus services that they would like. Bus routes have been cancelled and fares have risen. In response to local concerns, I conducted a bus survey in rural Aberdeenshire recently and found clear evidence of inadequate services. My response to that was not to call for the reregulation of the bus industry; rather, it was to meet local operators, the local council and even local social enterprises to see what improvements could be made. The early indications are that some improvements could be brought in.
Few, if any, local authorities would relish taking on the task of the wholesale planning and funding of local bus services. We all know already of councils that are cutting back on their supported bus services because of the financial pressures that they face. The truth is that a cheque book would help, not the statute book.
Of course there are gaps in the market, but much more could be done within the existing framework to encourage the greater take-up of bus services. In a recent inquiry, the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee considered the relationship between transport and land use planning and made a number of sensible suggestions on future developments. The Government’s report on proposals and policies, which we discussed yesterday, notes that greater focus on travel planning would make a difference. Larger employers should work closely with bus operators to identify commuting and working hours patterns to help to trial new services.
Greater attention to passenger priority measures would allow operators to use their resources better to provide a greater network of services. Resources are unnecessarily tied up in dealing with the impacts of congestion in our towns and cities. In some parts of Scotland, overall journey times have increased by as much as 12.5 per cent in the past five years. That increases bus companies’ operating costs without generating additional fares income. It disappoints me that, in Aberdeen, which is in my region, no new bus priority measures have been introduced for many years. That has meant longer journey times for passengers and higher operational costs for bus operators. Stagecoach reports that an extra seven buses are required to maintain service reliability because of congestion in Aberdeen city centre, at an additional cost of about £650,000 a year. Surely that money could be better spent on developing new routes or more frequent services.
The Government has been, at best, ambivalent about the bus industry. In the early years, it cut the BSOG and had lengthy wrangles over the concessionary fares reimbursement formula. It ended the rural transport fund, hindering rural communities in finding local solutions. Community transport and demand-responsive transport must be recognised as essential partners in providing a joined-up bus network. The bus route development scheme was abolished, despite having been successful at growing markets. Liberal Democrats would like that to be reinstated.
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...