argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Government Operations
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I would like to discuss Amendment 93. The noble Baroness has done the Committee a service by reading out a letter from the CMA. My first reaction was that the amendment was not a good idea, because it put a constraint on what the CMA would normally do. On page 42 of the Bill the CMA is listed as one of the organisations to be consulted, and that seemed all right to me. However, the CMA’s letter causes me some concern. Presumably, the Government consulted the CMA before drafting this text. The idea that, having been consulted once, the CMA would go against the principles of the Bill and come back for a few more bites of the cherry is going to put off a large number of authorities that might want to take forward these changes. That is worrying, because it might put off a lot of local authorities from doing it at all.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, before I move Amendment 111A, I would like to put on record that I do not understand page 59, line 42. I think there might be a spelling mistake. I do not need an answer from the Minister, but it is useful to put it on record The amendments in this group concern what happens when a traffic commissioner refuses an application. In both cases, it is quite important that before refusing an application the traffic commissioner needs to have as much information on the local transport authority as possible. The Minister may say that this is not necessary and that it is obvious that he would do this, but it does not always happen that way, so I thought it would be useful to put in the new subsections proposed in Amendments 111A and 111B to say that the traffic commissioner must have regard to relevant information. It might prevent some unnecessary debates and complaints later from organisations whose applications have been refused. I beg to move.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Roy Kennedy (Labour, Centre-left): I support my noble friend Lord Berkeley in these two amendments. I look forward to the Minister’s response. It is right that the traffic commissioner should have all the relevant information in front of him. Putting that into the Bill will ensure that when decisions are made they are robust and we do not get situations where there are needless complaints because people have not taken on board what they should have done. I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): I am grateful to the Minister for that explanation. It takes two to tango, and I suspect that the traffic commissioner will get the information that he needs whether or not the local authority offers it. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, it is difficult to agree with everyone on this point. In response to my noble friend Lord Snape, nobody is going to run a community bus service if a bus service is already running. Presumably that service would be making a profit under his definition, so in theory there would not be a need for another one Turning to the amendment, the community bus route is based on the community interest company model, which I imagine was introduced by the Labour Government 10 or 15 years ago, although I cannot remember exactly when. I found one CIC on the internet called the Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, which runs bus services in the Dales. The point is that it is not designed to make a profit—in fact, it is not allowed to make a profit unless it reinvests it. Unless something like that operated, it is pretty clear that there would be no bus service, so I suspect that, for areas which do not have bus services at the moment or which are thought to be unsuitable for such services, this kind of model makes a really good contribution One benefit of the CIC model is that it is very easy to set up—I am involved in one at the moment, although not in connection with buses—and it is easier to get funding for a CIC than it sometimes is for a commercial operation. Officials in the Department for Transport have basically said, "In some circumstances we would be pleased to consider a contribution from the department or from local authorities". It might be easier to give it to a CIC which demonstrated that there was a need and that it was prepared to work towards participating in providing a service than it would be to give it to a local authority I have slight concerns about the text of the amendment. My noble friend Lord Snape talked about the six-month moratorium, but I think that the principle is very sound. I believe that community buses were one of the main reasons that CICs were set up in the first place. I hope that, when the Minister replies, he will look on the principle with favour and, if the text is not quite right, I hope that that can be discussed before the next stage. Integrating all the other bus services that we are talking about in the Bill with ones that would not operate without some community involvement—not to make a profit but just to provide a service for the people who need it—is a very important element.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Margaret Beryl Jones (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response and those noble Lords who have supported my amendment. I have to say at the outset that it was of course a probing amendment. I am not for one second saying that we have worked through the precise wording; we were simply trying to get the concept of a different form of community transport on the agenda As I said in my introduction, this is not so unusual. Under the Localism Act, similar provisions are already in place for pubs, shops, and other community assets. You could quite easily see how that read-across would work—on the same basis that the pubs and shops had previously been commercial outfits but were no longer proving to be profitable, so the community ought to have some say before the services finally close. I was grateful to my noble friend Lord Berkeley for making it clear that it is not a binary choice; it is not commercial or nothing. There are already other services that operate on a non-profit-making basis and we need to learn the lessons from those to see whether those principles can be extended It was never our intention that this should be a blanket provision, which is why we put in a number of steps that had to take place via the traffic commissioner and so on. I am grateful for the contributions that noble Lords have made. I would be interested in having further discussions with the Minister about, if not our model, another model to give isolated, rural communities, in particular, some sort of lifeline in terms of transport provision. But with that kind offer from the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, Amendment 123A would insert a new clause, "Passenger representation", which tries to give bus passengers the same information—and credibility of information—that rail passengers get through Transport Focus, whose responsibility has recently been widened to include information about roads. This goes a bit wider than that, however, because local transport authorities need to set up mechanisms whereby passengers who are affected or who might use services can have credible information about proposed or actual services, as they have for rail services, and about reliability, quality and what happens when something goes wrong—as we discussed on today’s first Question It does not really matter who provides the services, whether it is a franchise, partnership or something else, but it is important. This could be done nationally, through Transport Focus or Bus Users UK, or locally, with co-ordination by a national body. Either way, there is a need for something like this and to have a requirement for it in the Bill. I beg to move.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
John Lawrence Whitty (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I rise to support the principle of the amendment that my noble friend Lord Berkeley has just moved. We have had debates about inserting references to passenger representation at various points in the consultations on the Bill. My noble friend’s amendment seeks to state this as a general principle so that, in effect, there would be in every area some form of passenger representation to cover the involvement of passengers in the development and continued operation of the franchise, partnership or contract. Further, passenger representation should be part of the general decision-making process as we go forward, not simply in the original consultation In addition, my noble friend’s amendment refers to a complaints system. It is vital that there should be within this industry a system for complaints to be rapidly dealt with by the operator and, if necessary, the transport authority. To do that, there needs to be an effective passenger body. It could be a national body or a combination of a local body and Transport Focus nationally. On earlier parts of the Bill, the Minister very gratifyingly showed some encouragement to those of us who were arguing for engagement of passenger representation. I hope that in his reply the Minister can tell us, or at least give a general indication—tonight if possible but certainly before we get to Report—how the Government will bring forward amendments on Report to reflect that commitment to passenger representation and the ability of such organisations to deal with complaints with bus operators. It would be very useful if we all received a letter before Report setting out all the points at which this would be reflected in the Bill.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Roy Kennedy (Labour, Centre-left): Amendment 123A, moved by my noble friend Lord Berkeley, is one that I am delighted to support. As I have said, the Bill is about improving bus services for passengers. Ensuring that the voice of passengers is heard is central to that aim and that is why this amendment is so important. It requires the transport authority to set out how users will be involved in monitoring and evaluating the scheme, and it sets up a complaints process with a body named to review complaints Only by having a mechanism for effective passenger input to deal with complaints and other issues can the transport authority have the information that it needs to plan for better services, deal with unforeseen problems and make things better for the future. I hope the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, can give a positive response to this short debate, or we may return to the matter on Report.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Environment
Roy Kennedy (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, Amendment 124 in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Jones of Whitchurch would include in the Bill a requirement that the Secretary of State can prescribe information to be held about the environmental impact of bus operations and vehicles and the emissions of the vehicles in use. We are all aware of the danger of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and the damage that they are doing to the planet. Providing clear information about environmental impact to the public generally is a welcome move. Having people travel on a bus is preferable to them all making separate car journeys, but there is still a cost to the environment. Technology is improving and greener buses are possible as fleets are renewed over time. The amendment enables this information to be prescribed, and that for me is a positive move Amendment 124A is similar and Amendments 124B and 124C add requirements about making public information on complaints and other matters such as statistics on punctuality and cancellations The last amendment in the group is Amendment 125 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, and the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw. It just changes the word "may" to "must", but that is very important in this context. It must be right that information about English bus services should be made available free of charge and without restrictions. I beg to move.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Environment
Peter Snape (Labour, Centre-left): I support my noble friend on Amendment 124. I asked the Minister previously to come to Birmingham to see what is being done under the partnership in that city—not that I am qualified to send these invitations, but still. I send the same invitation to my colleagues on the Front Bench because the Bus Alliance recently published a pamphlet about the work that it is doing in the West Midlands, particularly on environmental matters, which would be of interest to my noble friend who moved the amendment I do not know whether the West Midlands Bus Alliance pamphlet has been widely circulated—I did suggest that it should go to noble Lords on all sides of the Chamber who have been participating in the Committee stage. Under the chapter entitled "Air Quality", the alliance states: "All buses operating in the West Midlands will be Euro V, Euro VI or better by 2020" It lists operator investment under the Bus Alliance Partnership in the West Midlands as comprising 49 diesel electric hybrids to be delivered by Diamond, a company based in the West Midlands, and National Express West Midlands through the Government’s Green Bus Fund. Further, there are 21 Travel de Courcey buses—a company based in Coventry—which have been, "converted from Euro II and III to Euro VI", again with help from the Clean Bus Technology Fund. In addition, "A further successful bid to the Clean Bus Technology Fund will see National Express convert 150 buses from Euro III to Euro VI", standards prior to 2020 That is what can be done and it ought to be done countrywide. If anything, I suggest that the amendment could be toughened up to ensure that what is being done in the West Midlands under the Bus Alliance is done around the country if we are serious about improving air quality—particularly, but not solely, in our major towns and cities.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): When the noble Lord responded to my amendment about punctuality and so on, he said that those matters could be set out in regulations following consultation with stakeholders. To me, stakeholders are mainly the bus operators and they really will not want their punctuality to be monitored. I hope that the stakeholders will include passenger representatives and others who might have a different view.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Roy Kennedy (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, Clause 21 has been mentioned a few times during the passage of the Bill and it certainly was an issue in the debate at Second Reading. I am clear that the clause does not belong in this Bill. It does nothing whatever to improve bus services for people—rather, it is merely a piece of political dogma from the Conservative Party. As has been said many times, this Bill is generally seen in a positive light, but this clause runs against all that. Local authorities have powers under the Localism Act 2011 and associated general power of competence provisions. What is wrong with allowing a company to be formed and for it to compete on the open market, win contracts if it can demonstrate better value for money and offer a better service?
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
John Lawrence Whitty (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, most has already been said by my colleagues on the Front Bench. This clause sticks out like a sore thumb and goes against the rest of the Bill and any commitment to localism. It undermines the rest of the Bill, which essentially gives local authorities a range of options in how to optimise the bus services in their area—urban and rural. There are many circumstances in which the provision, in partnership or directly, of a municipally owned bus fleet could play a part. If that is closed off by keeping this clause in the Bill, we will be undermining the consensus behind most of its provisions. The Minister ought to take this back to his colleagues because it will be an issue of contention in the Bill’s later stages, and is already an area of extreme contention with many local authorities and bus operators around the country. It would be wise to listen to the Committee—to speakers on this side, at any rate—and withdraw the clause, preferably before Report.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, my reading of this clause is that even those authorities that are running bus services now will not be able to do so in future. That is very serious. To respond to the point made by the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, if a local authority wishes to run a bus service, it does not need a franchise itself: it can just run the service. Ditto, it does not have to have an enhanced partnership with itself: it can just run the service. So it seems to me that if the local authority wanted to run the service it could just do it if this clause was not there. It does not need to have a conflict of interest I support all noble Lords on this side of the House who have spoken. This is a really bad clause. It has many similarities with the railway industry, which we can go into. I very much hope that we will see the end of it quite soon.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
John Lawrence Whitty (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, Amendment 128 calls for a strategy for the bus sector to be part of the Bill. It is fairly short and to the point. My noble friend Lord Berkeley has tabled a couple of rather more comprehensive amendments which express the same objective When I first thought of this amendment, I thought of tabling it before Clause 1. I may have to reflect on that after this short debate. The Bill is quite technical and procedural, changing contractual arrangements and introducing new technology such as ticketing systems and so forth. What it fails to do is give a clear indication of the strategy for the bus sector in terms of raising usage, extending buses in much-neglected rural areas, the nature and quality of buses, and their environmental impact. We need a strategy. We need the Government to come forward with a bus strategy that makes sense of the Bill in a broader dimension We can come back to this on Report. Obviously, we are nearing the end of today’s proceedings so I will not speak at length but it seems a missed opportunity not to require the Secretary of State to come up with an overarching strategy that would convince people that we are really serious about modernising, extending and making more environmentally attractive our bus services throughout England. I beg to move Amendment 128 here, at the obscure back end of the Bill, but the Minister may encourage me to put it right at the front of the Bill because that is really where it should go.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
Anthony Gueterbock (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I support my noble friend’s Amendment 128 and will speak very briefly to my two amendments. Several of us spoke about this at Second Reading. I agree with my noble friend that the bus sector needs a strategy. After all, rail passengers have a strategy. Rail freight is having one soon, I am told. There is a roads strategy. There are strategies to do with most things in transport, except buses. I really think it is time for it and I will certainly support my noble friend if he puts a nice amendment down as Clause 0.
Bus Services Bill [HL] — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Transportation
John Lawrence Whitty (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, I am a bit disappointed by the Minister’s response. Yes, the Bill is about providing new options for local authorities—apart from the one that Clause 21 closes off—and allowing devolution of decisions to meet local circumstances. But local authorities and operators need to operate within a framework. The Bill gives bits of that framework but we need a clear understanding of where buses fit within the overall transport system, as the Minister is implying. Therefore, the interface between buses and other forms of public transport is very important and buses need to be seen as part of that It is difficult for a local authority looking at changing the way in which it deals with operators and provides services to do so without some understanding of what the overall intention of the Government is going to be. The point about funding is crucial to this. Although I broadly agreed with the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, earlier about the complete nonsense of funding bus services through BSOG, I think we should go wider than that and look at the totality of support we give to buses and place that within an overall strategy. The Minister seems to be putting it the other way round, saying that he will be looking at the funding situation, but the funding situation needs to reflect the strategy rather than the other way round. Local authorities need to operate within that strategy and with the support that the funding would give for their decisions I am a bit disappointed. I suspect that my noble friend and I will have a bit of a conflab between now and Report to see how we pursue this further. I think we will pursue it further but for the moment, I withdraw the amendment.
Civil Proceedings, First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and Employment Tribunals Fees (Amendment) Order 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-07-20
Topic: Law and Crime
Jeremy Hugh Beecham (Labour, Centre-left): At end insert "but that this House regrets that, notwithstanding the recommendation of the House of Commons Justice Committee that access to justice should prevail over generating revenue when the Government are setting court and tribunal fees, the Government continue to increase the already enhanced fees, which exceed the full cost of the provision of court and tribunal services."