Buses

Speech by Alison Mcinnes delivered to Chamber, Scottish Parliament on Thu 18th Mar 2010

Encouraging more people on to buses, thereby tackling climate change and easing congestion, would be easier if all the buses that we want people to use were pleasant and modern and provided easy access for all ages and abilities. That means that we need to encourage and support research and development in bus design. Alexander Dennis Ltd is at the forefront of such innovation. I am proud that Britain's biggest and Scotland's only bus manufacturer produces the UK market-leading range of single and double-deck chassis and bodies from its manufacturing centres in Falkirk, Guildford and Scarborough.

We are right to be concerned about the difficulties that ADL faces as a result of the recession. As has been remarked already, the workers at its Falkirk plant have been on a reduced working week since September. That not only shows the fragility of the market at the moment but demonstrates the tenacity and determination of those workers. A modern, accessible, well-designed, flexible fleet-I am not referring to bendy buses-means that buses could become the transport of choice for many more people. It also means that, as Charlie Gordon said, buses could provide a variety of different services. Local authorities are already finding that greater efficiencies are to be won through the integration of school bus services, supported services and social-work vehicles. Sophisticated information technology systems have allowed that progress, when for many years it was only imagined. Buses that once would have been parked in the depot between 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock are now being used during the day to meet other transport needs.

Strathclyde partnership for transport has gone down the route of purchasing fleet but it is not necessarily a model that will be applicable throughout Scotland. As a model 3 regional transport partnership, SPT is funded differently from the other RTPs, and is therefore almost uniquely placed to be able to afford to purchase, maintain and store buses. Although there is room for a great deal of improvement in some of the buses running on the streets of our cities, we should not lose sight of the fact that major bus companies in Scotland have spent more than £500 million on new low-floor, greener vehicles over the past 10 years. Mr Gordon says that I am calling for something that is already in place. That is not the case. The green bus fund is flawed. It does not take old buses out of commission and it has not been enough to stimulate growth and new jobs.

The scheme is something that we have been campaigning on, and that we will introduce. I am sure that we will speak about it in the budget next week. However, through the consequentials, it will clearly have an effect in Scotland.

We are challenging the Labour Party to go further than its proposals this morning. Our amendment outlines the benefits to be had from a low-carbon bus fleet and, as has been said, calls on the Government to introduce a bus scrappage scheme in next week's budget. Labour has a golden opportunity next week to take up our suggestion and give tangible support to the bus manufacturing industry. We have suggested that we would invest £60 million in a bus scrappage scheme that helps bus companies to replace old polluting buses with new low-carbon ones and creates jobs.

As much as 20,000 tonnes of CO2 would be saved as a result of such a scheme. Diesel emissions, particularly from older vehicles, are, of course, the biggest problem in our large towns and cities, and poor air quality has serious implications for public health; indeed, it causes tens of thousands of premature deaths in the UK each year. Our proposal would have a significant impact on reducing air pollution and carbon emissions. It would also create an economic stimulus. It could result in as many as 200 new jobs for Scotland. The economic boost to bus manufacturing would be considerably greater than that from the grant scheme that Labour has proposed, and companies such as ADL would be given greater certainty.

It is good that, as John Swinney said, ADL workers will return to a five-day working week from April. That follows the news that ADL is the first manufacturer that supplies the British market to have a double-deck hybrid-the Enviro400H-certified at Euro 5. Bringing in a bus scrappage scheme in the budget would be an acknowledgement that the Government values ADL's research and development efforts. Such a scheme would also support a strand of the UK bus and coach industry's greener journeys campaign by driving investment in low-carbon buses.

The Government introduced a car scrappage scheme to boost demand for new cars and stimulate car manufacturing. That was justified on economic, employment and environmental grounds. The same applies in this context. We urgently need a scrappage scheme for buses and coaches.