Bus Services Bill [Lords]

Debate between Chris Green and Andy McDonald

2nd reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 1st March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Andy McDonald]

I wholeheartedly agree with my right hon. Friend. If that initiative, which tries to redress the imbalance that has been visited on our young people, is to be put in place in areas such as Manchester, I am convinced that it will completely appeal to people and that it will be the right measure to address the deficit that he so accurately described.

[Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)]

Has the hon. Gentleman costed Labour’s new policy of giving free concessionary travel to 16 and 17-year-olds?

[Andy McDonald]

Suggesting that we will not extend assistance to 16 to 18-year-olds says more about the hon. Gentleman’s attitude towards young people than it does about Opposition Members.

Under the current system, bus companies determine their routes and provision of services on a commercial basis, which means that commercially unprofitable but socially valuable services are left for local authorities to support. Since 2010, more than 2,400 routes have been downgraded or withdrawn. A combination of Government cuts and commercial operators deciding provision on a commercial basis means that individuals or communities become isolated, cut off from employment, education, healthcare, and friends and family.