Speeches by Lightwood.

“I am sorry to hear about the impact that that is having on Dorothy. As my hon. Friend will know, bus services are a devolved matter in Scotland. In England, we are taking action to put power over buses into the hands of local leaders through the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill.”

“Participants in the bus fare cap are only able to increase bus fares by inflation, so if the hon. Gentleman wants to speak to me outside the Chamber, I would be happy to take that matter up for him.”

“Our long-term bus investment will support rural areas to improve local bus services. That is on top of the £712 million we have allocated to local authorities in 2025-26.”

“I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for that question. I am studying the APPG’s report in detail. Illegal e-bikes are clearly dangerous and have no place on our roads. I would be happy to meet her to discuss it further.”

“Absolutely, and that is why I was so proud to chair the first bus manufacturers expert panel in March. That is a year-long project with bus operators, bus manufacturers and mayors across the country to try to forge a smooth pipeline of orders to support our fantastic UK manufacturers.”

“I will not take any lectures from the Conservatives under whose watch we saw 300 million fewer bus miles. As I have explained to the hon. Gentleman in Committee and in various exchanges, the full fat franchising—as it is commonly known—in Greater Manchester is only one kind of franchising available to local authorities…”

“I thank the hon. Members for Wimbledon, for North Norfolk and for Chesham and Amersham (Sarah Green) for tabling a series of amendments to the clause. Amendment 66 would ensure that local transport authorities review their current local bus network to identify any gaps. I agree with hon. Members that it is important fo…”

“I am delighted to hear that my hon. Friend’s constituents are benefiting from reduced fares, below the Government’s national £3 bus fare cap. I was pleased that we were able to allocate £23.8 million to the North East combined authority under the leadership of Mayor Kim McGuinness. I am, of course, more than happy to m…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion for tabling amendments 34 to 37, but the Bill already enables the direct award of franchising contracts to local authority bus companies. Clause 13 allows for the direct award of franchising contracts to incumbent operators under specific conditions that are set out in the …”

“I have already explained our position. Question put and agreed to. Clause 12 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Schedule Procedure for varying franchising scheme Amendments made: 7, in the schedule, page 44, line 29, leave out “by neighbouring relevant local authorities of”. This amendment, together with Am…”

“I have nothing to add.”

“Clause 12, alongside the schedule to the Bill, sets out new, bespoke variation procedures for authorities to follow when they wish to make changes to a franchising scheme. The procedures are clear and simple, to address the difficulties that franchising authorities have faced in interpreting existing legislation. They …”

“I completely agree. The clause is intended to ensure that local transport authorities understand the perspective of disabled people and make franchising schemes that are better informed by the priorities of disabled passengers and take account of their needs more effectively. The clause sits alongside the schedule, whi…”

“I will start with amendment 57, tabled by the hon. Members for Wimbledon and for North Norfolk, which would require the Secretary of State to assess the adequacy of central Government funding to support the provision of bus services under franchised schemes. Under the Transport Act 2000, franchising authorities are alr…”

“I am going to try and make some progress. We have spent a significant amount of time on this. The hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham once again raised Manchester’s experience with bus franchising. He again quoted figures on the cost of franchising in Manchester. On the first day of the Committee I explained that th…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. The Bill recognises that commercial operators can play a key role in providing commercial services that complement franchising schemes and add value to the overall bus offer for local transport users. That includes cross-boundary services, which provide cruc…”

“As I said in my opening remarks, clause 1 does not account for the full scope of the Government’s ambition. The shadow Minister talked about incentives; I think the incentives for local authorities are really clear, if not the clearest. They know what is best for their local areas. They are driven by the desire to tack…”

“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I think I speak for the majority of Committee members in saying that, as this is my first Bill Committee, I will be guided by your experience and that of the Clerks. This clause places a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the purpose of the Bill,…”

“I thought the Liberal Democrats were the party of devolution, but they have a strange habit of wanting to tell local areas what to do and how to do it. Rural bus hubs are not yet widespread and the available data on their impact is limited. I have already outlined that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to improvin…”

“The clause enhances the flexibility of franchising in terms of the areas that can be brought into such a scheme. The Government understand that there is a lack of clarity about whether a franchising scheme may specify more than one non-contiguous area. The clause therefore clarifies that that is permissible, meaning th…”