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Mr. Eric Clarke: With the leave of the House, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I do not know what to say--everyone has been so nice to me. I am grateful to hon. Members for the welcome that they have given the Bill. I also thank the Minister--it is a mutual admiration society--and his civil servants who helped me behind the scenes. They encouraged me to produce this Bill and assisted me in drawing it up. I am very grateful to them.
I must also thank the Law Society and Michael Clancy, Adrian Ward and Ann Keenan. I have discovered that not all lawyers are crooks and that many care about society and want to correct anomalies. Those three people are in that category.
I must mention some of my hon. Friends specifically. My hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, North (Mrs. Adams) did an embarrassing amount of work behind the scenes. Another lawyer, my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne), also did a tower of work on my behalf. I was also assisted by my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, West (Mr. Dowd)--who is from south of the border--and my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Mrs. McGuire). The sponsors and supporters of the Bill have been absolutely wonderful. Bruce Millan told me on Saturday that I was doing a marvellous job, so he has endorsed the Bill as well.
I must declare an interest in the debate as I am a disabled person. It is correct to say that this is a small Bill which, as it currently stands, cannot hope to put right the problems that hon. Members have identified regarding the management of the finances of those who are incapable of looking after their own affairs because of a minor disorder. Indeed, the Bill does not attempt to do so. It aims simply to address one problem that, if not corrected, would seriously disadvantage the people concerned. As such, it represents one small but important step along the way to comprehensive legislation, which we all hope will be pursued in the Scottish Parliament. I hope--indeed, I am sure--that the support that I have received from my hon. Friend the Minister also demonstrates the Government's willingness to deal with this important topic.
Future action will be taken in the new Parliament in Edinburgh. In the meantime, we must take steps so that we can tackle this cumbersome problem. Accordingly, I commend the Bill to the House.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. I have much pleasure in putting the Question.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill accordingly read a Second time, and committed to a Standing Committee, pursuant to Standing Order No. 63 (Committal of Bills).
Order for Second Reading read.
Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire):
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
When I was fortunate enough to attend Committee Room 10 just as you were drawing the ballot for private Member's Bills this year, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I think that I was pleased that my name was drawn from the box, giving me the opportunity to present this Bill. Once he has been lucky in the ballot, an hon. Member is offered many choices for the subject of his private Member's Bill. Many hon. Members have told me how many letters one gets as soon as one's name is drawn. This is the first time that I have been so high in the ballot, and I was surprised to receive about 600 letters over Christmas suggesting subjects for my Bill.
Last September, I visited one of the community transport schemes in my constituency, in Bakewell, to see the good work done and the help provided by the Community Transport Association.
At this stage, I must thank all the sponsors of the Bill, who range from the Chairman of the Select Committee on the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs to a former Secretary of State for Transport and a former Local Government Minister, as well as hon. Members representing Derbyshire--the hon. Members for Amber Valley (Judy Mallaber) and for North-East Derbyshire (Mr. Barnes)--the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat party, and other Members of Parliament, who have all understood what I am trying to achieve.
The Bill would exempt operators of certain community bus services from the payment of Customs and Excise duty on fuel used to operate the services. In particular, it would ensure that the exemption is granted to those community bus services that assist thousands of elderly and disabled people in both rural and urban areas. The service is particularly helpful to my constituents, many of whom live in isolated villages where the terrain makes a walk of even the shortest distance difficult for old people.
The House may not be aware that registered commercial bus services already receive a fuel duty rebate, which was raised in line with the duty increase in the Budget. It amounts to around two thirds of the duty paid by commercial operators. However, that fuel duty relief does not apply to voluntary and charitable community trust bus services, which assist elderly and disabled people daily. I was surprised to find out that that anomaly existed, particularly given the way in which the Government continue to increase fuel prices--as we have seen with the escalator. The increases will have a detrimental impact on community bus services.
Community bus services do not qualify for fuel duty relief because they do not operate a fixed route or timetable. That means that those valuable services are penalised for going out of their way to offer a door-to-door service that accommodates people who might otherwise be housebound and unable to gain access to mainstream transport. It is a huge anomaly that a bus operating empty but on a registered route qualifies for the rebate but a community bus that offers a specific service to individual people does not. It is ironic that such a huge differential applies between the commercial and voluntary
sectors. Community transport is valuable but is denied the fuel duty relief to which commercial operators are legally entitled.
The Bill's sponsors agree that community transport schemes perform a valuable service. Their real value derives from the quality of life that they help to bring to so many elderly and disabled people with mobility problems who would otherwise be unable to access essential day-to-day amenities such as health care--dentistry, chiropody, hospitals--or visit friends and community groups. Such people thereby gain active involvement in society in a way that would otherwise not be possible for them.
Deborah Oddy of the Bakewell scheme told me:
Community transport services in Derbyshire have been at the forefront of the campaign for fuel duty exemption. A convoy of five community bus transport groups from the county came down before Christmas and their petition and was presented by the hon. Member for Amber Valley to the House and the Government. Following the first scheme in Glossop 18 years ago, others have replicated the service throughout the county in Bakewell, Chesterfield, Clowne, Ilkeston, Ripley, Swadlincote and Derby.
In 1998, there were eight community transport schemes in Derbyshire. They used an estimated 265,000 litres of fuel, had running costs of £2.5 million and a contribution from the county council of £775,000. They covered nearly 1.2 million miles and carried some 443,000 passengers. During an average month, community transport in Derbyshire covers more than 65,000 miles and carries some 76,000 passengers. All the Derbyshire schemes are registered non-profit-making charities that have been operating for the past 10 years with a mixture of paid staff and volunteers. They operate a range of targeted schemes.
Dial-a-bus takes people who have difficulty using public transport from their homes to local town centres and supermarkets. Dial-a-ride transport allows people who are unable to use ordinary taxis to travel from home to wherever they want to go--to hospitals or to visit friends or relatives. The social car scheme offered by the Bakewell and Eyam service is similar to dial-a-ride. Volunteer drivers use their cars to provide transport for people, escorting or waiting for them when they reach their destination or returning for them. The community bus operates normal services in Bakewell, Eyam, Clowne and Swadlincote on designated routes on which no commercial service operates. Small detours can be made to pick up regular passengers who are unable to get to the bus stop. That can be very important in the remoter parts of my constituency and hilly areas where the terrain can be steep and difficult.
Financial support for such bus services comes from Derbyshire county council, district and parish councils, local businesses, trusts and fund-raising schemes. The rural nature of Derbyshire illustrates one of the key points in the debate. In many rural areas of the United Kingdom, sparsity of population and public transport provision mean that there is even greater dependency on community transport schemes.
As the TAS partnership has said:
The Government have recognised the value of community transport. In the last Budget, they announced a rural transport fund of a further £10 million for capital modernisation funds, matched by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions over the next two years. I am sure that rural areas will benefit from, and welcome, that money. However, this week's Budget announced an 11.6 per cent. increase in the duty on diesel from 44.99p to 51.13p per litre. I doubt that any road user will have welcomed the fuel duty increases announced in the Budget but, while registered bus operators have the consolation of an increase in fuel duty rebate in line with the duty increases, no such cheer is available for the5,000 voluntary community transport schemes, which offer a wonderful and valuable service.
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"There are a substantial number of people who have needs which deny them access to the things that others take for granted, such as appointments at the doctors or hospital, visiting friends and relatives or joining in adult education classes. There are increased problems faced by rural communities in making even the smallest journey unless you have a car".
I saw the service at first hand in my constituency when I undertook a bus journey on 16 September to from Hassop to Bakewell. The people using it found it tremendously valuable, particularly in remote rural areas such as those in the north of my constituency. It is no exaggeration to say that the bus services are a lifeline to housebound people who would otherwise not have access to towns.
"some 20 per cent. of rural settlements in England are estimated to have a bus service below 'subsistence' levels--fewer than four return journeys a day, and no evening/weekend service."
The Minister of Transport has said:
"a significant proportion of people in rural areas--upwards of 20 per cent. in rural households--have no access whatever to a car."--[Official Report, 20 October 1998; Vol. 317, c. 1075.]
According to a survey by the Rural Development Commission, 75 per cent. of parishes had no daily public bus service in 1997.
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