Speeches by Mayer.

“In which case, should we not just move all your officers into a national scheme so that all this best practice could be shared, but you are on the ground?”

“This was a hugely tragic incident, and my thoughts are with all those affected. The Secretary of State was right to say that we should wait for the investigation and not jump to any conclusions. Will she join me in thanking the local residents who heeded the calls not to visit A&E at Bedford and Luton and Dunstable…”

“During the recent heatwave, bus drivers reported soaring temperatures in their cabs and steering wheels that in some cases were literally too hot to handle. Will the Leader of the House consider bringing forward a debate in Government time on maximum working temperatures? As the climate changes, this issue will be of i…”

“I very much welcome the progress that is being made; we are going in the right direction, from the figure of nine when I originally asked to three today. Would my hon. Friend be willing to meet with the body that runs the international approval programme for cruelty-free products, to see whether we can speed this up an…”

“2. What steps the Commission is taking to reduce the number of cleaning products used on the parliamentary estate that are not certified as cruelty-free.”

“That is buses. What about trains and coaches?”

“When you say that there may be some impact next year, what do you think that might look like? Is that likely to look like higher ticket prices, reduced service levels, or the need for more subsidy? Have you given that thought yet?”

“That covered buses and trains. What about coaches?”

“Continuing with the theme of rising diesel fuel prices, has the Department made a formal assessment of that impact on train, bus and coach operators?”

“In your response to our “Buses Connecting Communities” report you said that the Government’s objective is to grow bus usage and you expect this to be the key driver for local authorities. In a report commissioned recently by the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, it was clear that the new mayor’s priorities were…”

“Alan Milburn’s recent report on people not in education or training suggested that one barrier for some young people getting there was transport and that actually reduced costs on public transport could well help them. Are you having any discussions with the Treasury whereby reducing costs for young people might actual…”

“When we were taking evidence about the integrated transport strategy, we heard that the other cost of living measure for transport—the £3 cap—was actually in contradiction to having an integrated transport policy according to the person who was giving the evidence because it was one form of transport only. Do you see a…”

“Is that not the point, that this might be a measure that could improve the public finances overall? Are we not just thinking of this as a cost to the Department for Transport rather than a benefit to the nation as a whole?”

“FMC and Dynamic Metals, both of which are in my constituency, have no alternative but to import specialist steel, because if it is not made in Britain, they cannot buy in Britain. What message does the Minister have for those businesses, and will he look at changing harmonised system codes so that customs can better di…”

“The Minister for Rail wrote to the Committee recently laying out the proposed starting point for local and regional structures; you were alluding to it just before. Inevitably, this will mean that some passengers will travel between different business units on a single train. Is there any danger that it actually become…”

“Do not do that; the Chair will not be happy.”

“Theoretically all the mayors of the country could be deciding to cut buses. Do the Government have a policy to try to increase bus usage if that happens?”

“Yes, and if you change from a bus to a train it does not help you at all.”

“Moving on to local authority bus grant formulas, we think that you adopted one of the Committee’s recommendations and included rurality into the new formula. Obviously that is alongside various other things such as deprivation, size and so on. Is there any way of finding out if any local authorities have received highe…”

“You have mentioned the August scheme for free bus travel for young people as a cost of living measure a couple of times. Is this just a cost of living policy or is it a transport policy as well?”