Meeting of the Parliament 30 October 2024
I feel that I must express my extreme disappointment and—dare I say it?—my surprise at the short-sightedness of the decision of members of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, who voted yesterday to move to annul the vital regulations before us, which represent one of the very final pieces of the jigsaw that will allow us to undo some of the damage done to one of our vital public services by Thatcherism’s obsession with selling off the nation’s assets—in this case, the maligned deregulation of bus services.
The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which was passed by this Parliament, set us on a journey of giving control back to local authorities in a number of ways to ensure that the people of Scotland have an affordable, reliable bus service that works for the people who rely on it most, rather than providing dividend payments for shareholders.
Franchising is one of the most important and—dare I say it?—ambitious measures, and supporting the motion to annul the regulations puts the brakes on years of work and progress towards delivering that vision and turning it into a reality for the people of Scotland. It may well jeopardise the ability to deliver franchising progress in this session of Parliament.
If we break down what is, in reality, a fairly complex process for the sake of simplicity, we find that the regulations allow for the creation of a panel that will scrutinise the proposals of an authority to develop a franchise, ensure the robustness of the business case and satisfy itself that the authority has done proper due diligence and has consulted the appropriate people, organisations and neighbouring authorities, so that all considerations are made and required actions completed.
It cannot be the case that such a major financial and socially important decision should be taken without full and robust scrutiny. The very presence of a panel to carry out that role will be the insurance policy that we need, so that authorities will adopt the level of rigour that is required to get the process right, and right first time.
The Labour Party’s position—that panels do not work because of the experience in England—simply does not stack up, because highlighting the single panel decision on which it based its comparison is like comparing apples with oranges. That panel only considered the financial business case, which was not robust.
There are many other arguments that could be made but, with an eye on the time, I will confirm what I told the committee yesterday. I instructed the chief executive officer of Transport Scotland to talk to the CEO of SPT, which is the only authority that is currently considering franchising as an option. Some would say that it is a trailblazer for future possibilities; its response was emphatic. SPT is currently developing a new regional bus strategy. Although the strategy is yet to be finalised, in its discussion, SPT noted the importance of checks and balances in the franchising process. Given that it is among the options under consideration, SPT felt that, should the regulations be annulled, it would not be suitable to leave the primary legislation in its current form, with no supporting regulations. [Interruption.] It highlighted the need for a quick resolution to the current position, noting that any legislative changes should be delivered timeously, and it has intimated a desire to work collaboratively with Transport Scotland and other partners to identify a workable solution. [Interruption.]
I do not know whether you can hear me, Presiding Officer, because of all this noise.