B

Baroness Pidgeon (LD)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 13 February 2025

Debate

Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [HL]

Contribution

I thank the Minister. I am reassured by him saying that the Government ought to continue to monitor the fare impact at a national level and will circulate the link to the review of the £2 cap. That is to be welcomed. I hope that he will drive forward the point about ticketing and modernisation because it is important for passengers. However, I go back to the comments that I made earlier. The hefty report that I have here, the final-stage impact assessment, says: “There may also be benefits associated with increasing bus usage through lowering fares”. We have heard today about Cornwall’s hugely successful pilot but, if you read the trade press, it is clear that there are concerns about it continuing, and this goes back to the funding point that we discussed earlier. Probably for the first time in this Committee, I strongly disagree with the Minister about the £2 bus cap. We think that it is essential. The Minister described my amendment as unnecessary. We do not agree with that, we think that it is very necessary, but, at this stage, I will withdraw it. I am sure that we will come back to it at a future stage. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

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