8th Special Report - Bus Services Bill: Government Response to the Committee's Eighth Report of Session 2016–17

This is the government's response, published 18 January 2017.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government agrees with some of the Committee's recommendations on the Bus Services Bill, partially agrees with others, and disagrees with several, including on BSOG devolution, community assets and municipal bus companies.

• On publishing detail of the Enhanced Partnership voting mechanism, the Government agrees, and says it plans "to consult in early 2017" on draft secondary legislation setting out the operator objection mechanism.
• On publishing all draft secondary legislation and guidance at introduction, it "partially agrees", saying this is not always "realistic" given the timetable, and intends to "formally consult" on key drafts in January.
• It disagrees that BSOG should be devolved to authorities with partnership schemes, preferring to consider requests "on a case by case basis", and disagrees that employee consultation should be required for Enhanced Partnership Schemes.
• On accessibility regulations, it agrees "with some elements" of the recommendation but says it "would be premature to set a date for implementation" until it better understands supply chain capabilities and impacts on operators.

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