Bus Services Act 2017
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
Bus Services Act 2017
2017 Chapter 21
An Act to make provision about bus services; and for connected purposes.
[27 April 2017]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Advanced quality partnership schemes
1 Advanced quality partnership schemes
In Part 2 of the Transport Act 2000 (local transport), after section 113B insert—
“
113C. Advanced quality partnership schemes
(1) A local transport authority whose area is in England, or two or more such authorities acting jointly, may make an advanced quality partnership scheme if they are satisfied that the scheme will contribute to the implementation of their local transport policies.
(2) An advanced quality partnership scheme is—
(a) a scheme falling within subsection (3) or (4), or
(b) a scheme falling within both subsection (3) and subsection (4).
(3) A scheme falls within this subsection if it is a scheme under which—
(a) the authority or authorities provide particular facilities in the whole or part of their area, or combined area, and
(b) operators of local services who wish to use those facilities must undertake to provide local services of a particular standard when using them.
(4) A scheme falls within this subsection if it is a scheme under which—
(a) the authority or authorities take particular measures in relation to routes in the whole or part of their area, or combined area, that are served, or proposed to be served, by local services, and
(b) operators of local services who wish to provide local services with stopping places on those routes must undertake to provide local services of a particular standard when providing such local services on those routes.
(5) A scheme may not be made unless the authority or authorities are satisfied that—
(a) the steps to be taken by the authority or authorities under the scheme, and
(b) the provision of local services of the standard or standards required by undertakings given under the scheme,
are likely to achieve one or more of the outcomes described in subsection (6) in relation to the whole or part of their area, or combined area.
(6) The outcomes mentioned in subsection (5) are—
(a) an improvement in the quality of local services that benefits persons using those services;
(b) a reduction or limitation of traffic congestion, noise or air pollution;
(c) an increase in the use of local services or an end to, or a reduction in, a decline in the use of local services.
(7) An advanced quality partnership scheme may not be made unless the authority or authorities have complied with the notice and consultation requirements imposed by section 113G.
(8) The power to make an advanced quality partnership scheme includes power to provide for—
(a) different facilities to be provided under the scheme,
(b) different measures to be taken under the scheme, or
(c) different standards of services to be provided under the scheme,
as from different dates after the scheme comes into operation.
(9) An advanced quality partnership scheme must include a description of the authority’s or authorities’ plans for consulting such organisations appearing to the authority or authorities to be representative of users of local services as they think fit in order to seek their views on how well the scheme is working.
(10) In carrying out their functions under this Part in relation to advanced quality partnership schemes, local transport authorities whose areas are in England must co-operate with one another.
(11) In considering whether to make an advanced quality partnership scheme, a local transport authority must have regard to the desirability, in appropriate cases, of making a scheme jointly with another such authority.
113D. Advanced quality partnership schemes: registration restrictions
(1) If the authority or authorities making an advanced quality partnership scheme consider that it is necessary or expedient for any restrictions to be imposed on the registration of—
(a) any local services, or
(b) any local services of a particular description,
they may impose those restrictions (“registration restrictions”) by specifying or describing them in the scheme.
(2) Any restrictions so imposed must be for the purpose of preventing or restricting—
(a) the provision of local services, or
(b) the variation or withdrawal of local services,
in cases where the authority or authorities consider that any such provision, or (as the case may be) variation or withdrawal, of services might be detrimental to the provision of services under the scheme.
(3) Where a scheme includes any registration restrictions by virtue of subsection (1), it must also specify the criteria (“registration criteria”) by reference to which a traffic commissioner is to decide whether or not to accept an application for registration.
(4) In this section “registration”, in relation to any service—
(a) means registration of prescribed particulars of the service under section 6 of the Transport Act 1985 (registration of local services), and
(b) includes a reference to the variation or cancellation of any such registration.
113E. Advanced quality partnership schemes: facilities, measures and standards
(1) The facilities which may be specified in an advanced quality partnership scheme—
(a) must be facilities provided at specific locations along routes served, or proposed to be served, by local services within the area to which the scheme relates, or facilities which are ancillary to such facilities, but
(b) may not be facilities which are required to be provided as a result of section 139 or 140.
(2) The measures which may be specified in a scheme—
(a) must be measures taken for the purpose of—
(i) increasing the use of local services serving the routes to which the measures relate or ending or reducing a decline in the use of such services, or
(ii) improving the quality of local services serving the routes to which the measures relate, but
(b) may not include the provision of—
(i) facilities falling within subsection (1)(a), or
(ii) facilities which are required to be provided as a result of section 139 or 140.
(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations make further provision about the measures which may or may not be specified in a scheme.
(4) The standard of services which may be specified in a scheme includes—
(a) requirements which the vehicles being used to provide the services must meet, including requirements about emissions or types of fuel or power, and
(b) requirements as to frequency or timing of the services,
but the specification of any such requirements is not to prevent operators from providing services in excess of those requirements.
(5) The standard of services which may be specified in a scheme may also include—
(a) requirements as to the maximum fares that may be charged for particular journeys, or for journeys of particular descriptions, on services to which the scheme applies,
(b) requirements as to the ways in which passengers may pay for journeys,
(c) requirements about providing information to the public about local services or particular descriptions of local services, and
(d) requirements as to the publicising of local services, fares or ticketing arrangements or particular descriptions of local services, fares or ticketing arrangements.
(6) Requirements under subsection (5)(b), (c) and (d) may include requirements for operators of local services to co-operate with one another.
(7) A scheme may include a requirement falling within subsection (4)(b) or (5)(a) only if there are no admissible objections to the requirement from relevant operators.
(8) A scheme may include a requirement falling within subsection (4)(a) or (5)(b) that relates to an undertaking that would fall to be given under section 113C(4)(b) only if there are no admissible objections to the requirement from relevant operators.
(9) Section 113N(3) to (8) makes further provision with respect to schemes which include the requirements referred to in subsections (7) and (8).
113F. Advanced quality partnership schemes: traffic regulation orders
(1) If the provision of any of the facilities or taking of any of the measures specified in an advanced quality partnership scheme requires the making of a traffic regulation order in respect of a road or other place in a metropolitan district (other than a road for which the Secretary of State is the traffic authority), the scheme may not be made unless it is made by—
(a) the local transport authority or authorities, and
(b) the metropolitan district council for the district,
acting jointly.
(2) If the provision of any of the facilities or taking of any of the measures specified in an advanced quality partnership scheme requires the making of a traffic regulation order in respect of a road for which the Secretary of State is the traffic authority, the scheme may not be made unless it is made by—
(a) the local transport authority or authorities, and
(b) the Secretary of State,
acting jointly.
(3) Where subsection (1) or (2) applies so that a metropolitan district council or the Secretary of State is a maker of the scheme, then (subject to section 113M) the relevant references to the authority or authorities include (as well as the local transport authority or authorities)—
(a) the metropolitan district council, or
(b) the Secretary of State.
(4) For the purpose of subsection (3) the relevant references are those in—
(a) section 113C(3), (4), (5)(a) and (7), and
(b) sections 113G to 113L,
and paragraph 27(2A) of Schedule 9 to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.
113G. Notice and consultation requirements
(1) If an authority or authorities propose to make an advanced quality partnership scheme...
To continue reading
Request your trial