Select Committee on Transport Written Evidence


APPENDIX 39

Memorandum submitted by Andrew Davies, AM, the Welsh Assembly Government's Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks

CONTEXT

  From December 2004 the Welsh Assembly Government will invest £8 billion over 15 years in road, rail, bus and air schemes to improve connectivity within Wales and internationally. We will shortly consult on our Wales Transport Strategy, "Connecting Wales". This is an essential element of our corporate agenda. It will assist with the planning and delivery of a wide range of policies aimed at improving the quality of life of people in Wales.

  The Transport (Wales) Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 16 February 2006. It provides the Assembly Government with additional transport powers to develop and implement, in partnership with local authorities and other bodies, a safe, integrated, sustainable, efficient and economic transport system serving Wales. The Act requires us to prepare and publish a Wales Transport Strategy setting out how we propose delivering our transport duty. The strategy focuses on the role that transport can play in delivering our wider policy objectives in areas such as spatial planning, economic development, education, health, social services, the environment and tourism.

Has deregulation worked? Are services better, more frequent, meeting passengers' needs? Are bus services sufficiently co-ordinated with other forms of public transport? Are buses clean, safe and efficient? If not, can deregulation be made to work, and if so how?

  Deregulation of bus services gave private companies the opportunity to test new ways to meet our travel needs. As elsewhere in Great Britain some have risen to this challenge, for example by investing in new, more accessible and environmentally cleaner vehicles. Companies are improving the training of staff in customer care. Although more remains to be done, buses in Wales are generally newer and more accessible than previously, and in many areas of Wales offer a realistic alternative to travel by car for more journeys.

  We have many specific examples of good practice and innovation. Cardiff Bus has gained IiP accreditation and has introduced new, articulated buses. A partnership of the Assembly Government, Stagecoach Bus and Caerphilly Council has facilitated a Kickstart scheme in south Wales that has achieved a more than 20% increase in patronage after a year.

  On the Gower peninsula in south-west Wales, Swansea Council and Pullman Coaches have developed a thoughtful and well-marketed network of tendered services. It has been tendered as a complete network with connecting services linking remote communities. The buses have a unique livery and there is full inter-availability between tickets on this tendered network and on nearby commercial services.

  In north-west Wales, the Snowdonia Green Key project provides several gateway villages and towns in the area of the National Park with high, shoulder and low season arrangements for parking accompanied by curtailed roadside parking in a core area. The gateways provide long-term parking facilities with regular free bus services between the gateways and the core area, paid for from parking charges.

  In rural Ceredigion we have funded an innovative "free bus week" allowing people who might not otherwise have used the bus to experience how it can meet their travel needs.

  Ceredigion Council will be evaluating the impact the initiative has had.

  In north-east Wales, we are funding innovative Demand Responsive Transport schemes in Flintshire and Wrexham linking residential areas with industrial and commercial centres of employment.

  In Pembrokeshire, the Coastal Bus network is addressing congestion and air quality through the provision of a network of environmentally friendly coastal bus services powered by a mix of biodiesel, LPG and petrol/electric engines.

  We attach the highest importance to reducing public transport's impact on the environment, and another example of best practice is the testing of electric hybrid buses by First Cymru in Swansea.

  We continue to fund the development and implementation of the TrawsCambria network of longer-distance bus services throughout Wales. The network is designed to complement the railways and is a mixture of improved existing and new services.

  We have many examples of good practice and innovation, albeit these have often required pump priming by public money.

  Deregulation has not achieved the intended increase in the number of companies running bus services and the forecast increased competition. The larger groups have consolidated their position through acquisition with the result that local authorities inviting tenders for subsidised services have sometimes received only one submission. This undermines efforts to achieve best value for public money. The perception remains that some companies are reluctant to innovate, and that delivering a satisfactory return on their investment is the overriding objective rather than growing the market. There are exceptions, but if achieving a satisfactory financial return means cutting back on or even withdrawing some services, then that appears acceptable to some companies.

  The local authority views is that despite often quoted examples of growth, outside London the overall picture is one of continued passenger decline, wasteful competition on the road and service withdrawals resulting from operators' consolidation of their more profitable core routes. Local authorities fill the resulting gaps through subsidy. Services, frequencies and fares remain liable to change at short notice, harming passengers' confidence. The benefits of competing services are often negated by the refusal of one operator to accept another's return ticket. There are few examples of true integration of bus and train ticketing with tickets bought on buses and few convenient interchanges. Generally, co-ordination is poor between different local bus services, and between train and bus services where buses are provided commercially.

  Local authorities and Regional Transport Consortia have a crucial role to play. Cross-boundary impacts must be taken into account when local authorities consider their bus subsidy plans. In some circumstances they may have to make difficult decisions about where finite resources can be used to best effect.

  Our funding of local authorities through the local government revenue settlement includes an element for bus subsidy. In addition, we allocated to the 22 local authorities in 2006-07 £9.4 million under the Local Transport Services Grant (LTSG) scheme to help them boost the number and range of subsidised buses, and to support alternatives in the form of community transport.

  Despite real growth in LTSG over the years (it began as £2.5 million in 1998-99), local authorities are increasingly required to make difficult decisions when contracts are renewed or terminated. The Assembly Government is developing a toolkit to enable local authorities to assess the value for money that they achieve from their funding of bus subsidies.

  The number of bus kilometres operated in Wales has declined from 126 million in 2001-02 to a provisional 116 million in 2004-05. The number of bus passenger journeys undertaken on buses in Wales increased from 104 million in 2001-02 to a provisional 113 million in 2004-05. This growth in journeys is attributable to a large extent to the Assembly Government's scheme introduced in April 2002 guaranteeing free travel by elderly and disabled people on local bus services. All major and many secondary bus operators have responded positively, bringing forward investment in newer, cleaner and more accessible buses. Some services that would have been lost have been retained and others extended. The overwhelming majority of operators are keen to engage in constructive partnerships with us to the benefit of passengers.

  The Assembly Government funds the activities of Bus Users UK in Wales. It employs one full-time and two part-time officers as well as a team of local area representatives. Since its establishment the organisation has held more than 60 surgeries throughout Wales to enable bus passengers to meet and discuss their concerns with local operators and local authorities. Recurring themes include inadequate information about service changes, unreliable services, poor driver attitudes, infrequent or a lack of services, vehicle condition, infrastructure and ticketing. Most operators are considered to be reasonably good in investigating complaints and responding to them.

  A report by the Welsh Consumer Council in 2005 suggested that around 24% of people in Wales over 16 years of age use buses at least once a week. A further 25% use buses occasionally. The remaining 51% apparently never use buses. Based on a population of approximately three million, this implies that more than 700,000 people use buses at least once a week and that a further 750,000 use them occasionally. This demonstrates the significance of travel by bus for a great many people in Wales.

Is statutory regulation compromising the provision of high quality bus services?

  The existing opportunities provided to local authorities and the bus industry to grow the bus market are probably sufficient. We would like to see local authorities in Wales develop and implement Quality Bus Partnerships in collaboration with the industry and for the Quality Contract approach to be tested. The Assembly Government welcomes the additional legislative powers it secured recently through the Transport (Wales) Act 2006. We will be considering with our partners in local government, the industry and Bus Users UK opportunities for making best use of these additional powers for the benefit of bus passengers in Wales.

Are priority measures having a beneficial effect? What is best practice?

  Traffic management measures including altering junction layouts, weight restrictions and banning turning movements have a key role to play in maximising the capacity and reliability of existing infrastructure. Rising traffic levels have led to increased congestion and more unreliable journey times. Significant problems exist at certain times of the day, especially in the main urban centres such as Cardiff and Newport. We will seek more efficient and reliable use of the available infrastructure. In some cases, it is expected that new infrastructure will be required.

  The Assembly Government is providing substantial funding in support of First Bus's introduction of its ftr concept in Swansea, in partnership with Swansea Council.

  Local authorities will be pivotal in identifying where those circumstances exist, and in demonstrating a convincing case. Transport provision must be considered at the earliest stages of planning developments. The Wales Spatial Plan sets out a strategic framework to guide future development and policy interventions. Road pricing will have a part to play in our future transport policies, especially in helping to address the serious and growing congestion that exists in south-east and north-east Wales.

  Authorities also need to reflect the key importance of accessibility in its widest sense when considering proposals for new developments or the redevelopment of areas within their boundaries. Often, those cases would benefit from being considered at a regional level. Examples include the redevelopment of town-centre bus stations resulting from very welcome new investment. Maintaining or even increasing the space available for buses and to act as local interchanges is an important part of such considerations. There are several excellent examples in Wales where local authorities have renewed their principal bus stations and made them fresh, attractive, easy to use, open and safe environments, most particularly Wrexham and Bridgend.

Is financing and funding for local community services sufficient and targeted in the right way?

  Local authorities are often best placed to assess the transport requirements of their residents. While local authorities are able to make best judgements about local transport needs based on local circumstances and priorities, they must not overlook the potential for service reductions or enhancements to have impacts outside the boundaries of individual local authorities. Increasingly, we expect to see travel planning to be considered at a regional level through Wales's Regional Transport Consortia. This will promote greater efficiency in the use of resources and encourages best practice in transport planning and delivery.

  Bus companies have long-established links with local authorities, and authorities have great expertise and experience from their dealings with private transport companies.

  The Transport (Wales) Act 2006 provides the Assembly Government with the power to establish a Public Transport Users' Committee for Wales. The Committee will be pivotal in identifying gaps in services and where improvements are needed. For example, establishing more seamless public transport interchanges, more ticket inter-availability, more detailed and more accessible public transport information, implementing new technology that is user-friendly, and improving reliability.

  There continues to be a perception amongst some that travelling by bus is likely to expose passengers to antisocial behaviour or—in the worst cases—assault. While no journey by public or private transport can be guaranteed to be without incident, the reality is that the risk of experiencing such incidents is very low. As elsewhere in Great Britain, there are examples of bus services having to be withdrawn because, for example, a driver has been assaulted or a vehicle has been damaged by a thrown missile. Such regrettable outcomes often affect the most needy and vulnerable members of society. However, there can be no justification for placing drivers and passengers at risk of injury, and we completely support bus operators forced into making those decisions.

  It is essential that everyone interested in promoting accessibility throughout our society helps to tackle such antisocial behaviour. Bus Users UK in Wales has facilitated the introduction of the "Bobbies on Buses" scheme under which uniformed police officers and police community support officers travel free on almost all buses in Wales.

  We are working with others to develop a new system of reporting incidents in Wales, enabling the police to target resources on particular locations or services, at specific times of day.

Concessionary fares—what are the problems with the current approach? Does the (UK) Government's proposal to introduce free local bus travel across the UK for disabled people and the over 60s from 2008 stand up to scrutiny? Should there be a nationwide version of London's Freedom Pass giving free or discounted travel on all forms of public transport?

  The Assembly Government's scheme guaranteeing free travel for elderly and disabled people on local bus services was introduced in April 2002 and is hugely popular. Local authorities have issued more than 530,000 free bus passes and the scheme has undoubtedly helped to turn around a long-term decline in bus passenger journeys in Wales.

  Smartcards on buses have been operating in many parts of Wales for several years, but there is no uniform ITSO-compliant scheme. The Assembly Government is funding local authorities and consortia to achieve a fully ITSO-compliant scheme within the next three years.

  In addition to free travel for elderly and disabled people on local bus services, the Assembly Government is funding pilot schemes in two areas testing the practicality and affordability of a half-fare scheme for 16 to 18 year olds. We are also funding 15 demonstration projects throughout Wales testing a range of mechanisms for providing limited free travel by severely disabled people on community transport. This is aimed in particular at helping people who are unable to use even the most modern low-floor accessible buses.

Why are there no Quality Contracts?

  Quality Contracts have yet to be tested in Wales. The Assembly Government continues to encourage local authorities to explore the scope for implementing Quality Contracts. Local authorities and others will be watching with interest the proposed implementation of Quality Contracts in England.

  Local authorities and operators in Wales appear to prefer to achieve their objectives for improved bus services through partnerships. This reflects the strong partnership approach that exists in the vast majority of Wales resulting from local regional arms of larger groups, and long-established small local bus companies. It is also the case that there are quite significant legal and administrative hurdles that would have to be overcome to achieve a Quality Contract. Local authorities appear reluctant to take on this perceived burden when a less onerous but still potentially beneficial option exists.

Are the powers of the Traffic Commissioners relevant? Are they adequately deploying the powers and resources that they currently have? Do they have enough support from (Central) Government and local authorities?

  The Assembly Government has regular but relatively infrequent contact with the Traffic Commissioner for Wales and his staff. This reflects the fact that the Commissioner is not responsible to us for his duties undertaken in Wales. We do fund the posts of two full-time Bus Compliance Officers in Wales employed by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. Local authorities and Bus Users UK in Wales are encouraged to work closely with those Officers.

  The Assembly Government fully supports the Commissioner in his role monitoring bus operators and their services. Where required, the Commissioner should continue to fine the very small proportion of operators that fail to match the typically extremely high standards that most operators now display. There have been some calls from some quarters for Wales to have its own Traffic Commissioner and the Assembly Government has considered these.

Is London a sound model for the rest of the UK?

  There are some valuable lessons to be learned from experience in London, though London rarely reflects the circumstances and problems faced by the rest of the UK. For example, implementation of initiatives to tackle congestion and restrain car use. Making through ticketing and inter-available ticketing part of an easier and more convenient public transport experience are pivotal.

  The wider use of Smartcards will help to make bus travel more attractive. The adoption of Smartcards that allow pre-paid seamless travel on all public transport modes and access to retail and even car parking facilities is another essential development.

What is the future for the bus? Should metropolitan areas outside London be able to develop their own form of regulated competition? Would this boost passenger numbers? If not, what would? Does the bus have a future? In addressing rural railways, the Secretary of State (for Transport) has said that we "cannot be in the business of carting fresh air around the country"—is the same true for buses?

  Buses have a very significant role to play in future transport provision in Wales. The partnerships that the Assembly Government and local authorities have established with the industry through the Confederation of Passenger Transport in Wales and with individual operators demonstrate that shared objectives can be established and success achieved.

  Quality Contracts remain an option for local authorities to test a franchise approach to the provision of local bus services. It seems clear that passengers would welcome a clearer fare structure and more inter-availability of tickets. The Tocyn Taith scheme offers zonal tickets that are available on all trains and most buses in north Wales, and even permits travel to and from limited destinations in England. PlusBus operates across Wales.

  It is not economically, socially or environmentally sustainable for buses to run if there is no demand. Buses will continue to meet a huge social and economic need in Wales, especially in rural areas, and those services will continue to require greater subsidy per passenger journey or kilometre than in more densely populated communities.

  The public and private sectors have a responsibility to ensure that the most appropriate and cost-effective systems are used to meet that need. More direct or express services—such as the TrawsCambria—along core routes are an option in many instances provided there are frequent connecting feeder services. Those feeder services can often be provided by smaller conventional buses or by a range of community transport services. Community transport and taxis are often under-utilised elements of an integrated public transport system.

May 2006





 
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