New
Clause
4
Review
of reimbursement
arrangements
“Two
years after the commencement of this Act the Secretary of State shall
conduct a review of arrangements for allocating funding to local
authorities necessary for the reimbursement of operators under section
3(2) of this Act, and shall lay before Parliament a report setting out
his findings.”.—[Stephen
Hammond.]
Brought
up, and read the First
time.
Motion
made, and Question put, That the clause be read a Second
time:—
The
Committee divided: Ayes 5, Noes
10.
Division
No.
3
]
Question
accordingly negatived.
New Clause
5
Funding
statement
“At
the end of each financial year after the commencement of this Act the
Secretary of State shall make a statement to Parliament setting
out—
(a) the total sum of
funds made available to local authorities for the purposes of providing
bus services and concessionary fares thereon in the financial year just
ended, and
(b) the method by
which those funds have been made available.”.—[Stephen
Hammond.]
Brought
up, and read the First time.
Motion made, and Question
put, That the clause be read a Second
time:—
The
Committee divided: Ayes 5, Noes
10.
Division
No.
4
]
Question
accordingly negatived.
Gillian
Merron:
I beg to move,
“That certain written
evidence already reported to the House be appended to the proceedings
of the Committee.”
Question put and agreed
to.
Gillian
Merron:
On a point of order, Mr. Bayley. May I
say how much I have enjoyed serving under your chairmanship today?
Clearly, that will be endorsed by other members of the Committee. I am
delighted that we have been able to complete our deliberations well
within the timetable. Like a well-run bus service, the deliberations
have been punctual and the ride has been smooth and comfortable. There
have been no deviations from the route, and no emergency stops or
concessions— [
Interruption.] And we have clearly
not run out of gas. Quite seriously, Mr. Bayley, I am
grateful for the way in which you have handled what is an extremely
important Committee and Bill.
I would also like to place on
record my thanks to the Clerks, to those who prepare Hansard, to
members of the Committee on both sides who have participated so well,
and to the Government Whip, my hon. Friend the hon. Member for
Motherwell and Wishaw, without whom none of this would have been
possible.
I also thank
the Bill team, my private office, officials at the Department and the
doorkeepers and police officers. I am sure that hon. Members would also
want me to add a last-but-not-least thanks to the Chancellor, who
announced the extension of the concession in the Budget. I look forward
to Report and, more importantly, to the enactment of the Bill. It is a
source of pleasure and great pride, as I am sure it is to hon. Members
and colleagues, to be involved in Government legislation that will make
a real difference to some 11 million people. It is a central plank of
the Government’s work to tackle social exclusion and to improve
access to bus services. I welcome the conclusion of the Committee and I
thank everyone, including you, Mr. Bayley, for your
assistance. I look forward to the next stage of the Bill’s
passage and to the implementation of the measures.
Stephen
Hammond:
Further to that point of order, Mr.
Bayley. May I echo what the Minister said? It has been a pleasure to
serve under your chairmanship. We
on this side also look forward to Report and, more importantly, to the
Bill coming to fruition in April next
year.
Paul
Rowen:
Further to that point of order, Mr.
Bayley. May I echo those sentiments? We have got through a tremendous
amount of work very quickly owing to your smooth chairmanship and to
the hard work that has gone on in preparation for the Committee. I
thank the Minister for the arrangements she made to ensure that the
Committee had adequate
information prior to our consideration of the Bill. Like others, I look
forward to the introduction of the measures next
April.
The
Chairman:
I thank hon. Members for their kind remarks and
for their co-operation in helping smooth the passage of our business. I
also thank the various staff who report the Committee’s
proceedings.
Bill, as
amended, to be reported.
Committee rose
at twenty-nine minutes pastFive
o’clock.
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