Asked by: Chris Webb (Labour - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing the regulatory framework applying to coaches.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK coach sector was deregulated by the Transport Act 1980 and services are operated on a commercial basis without receiving government funding. Where coaches provide local bus services, they may be required to comply with the relevant legislation governing those services. Operation of buses and coaches requires a Public Service Vehicle Operator’s Licence and there are currently no plans to change that overarching regulatory framework.
We are continuing to review the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, seeking to understand how well the Regulations serve disabled coach passengers.