Subordinate Legislation
Bus User Complaints Tribunal Regulations 2002 (draft)
Item 2 is consideration of an affirmative instrument. I welcome to the meeting Lewis Macdonald, who is the Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning and many other matters, and I also welcome several Scottish Executive officials.
A covering note on the Bus User Complaints Tribunal Regulations 2002 has been circulated to members. As the instrument is subject to the affirmative procedure, Parliament must approve it before it comes into force. The sponsoring minister, Wendy Alexander, has lodged a motion that the committee recommend approval of the instrument. Lewis Macdonald is present to support the motion and to participate in the debate on the instrument.
The Subordinate Legislation Committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 5 March and asked the Executive questions about it. The exchange between the Executive and that committee is detailed in the covering note.
The Transport and the Environment Committee must report on the instrument by 15 April 2002. We will follow our standard procedure for affirmative Scottish statutory instruments. Initially, I will allow questions of clarification to the minister and the officials. I ask members not to debate the instrument at that time, but to restrict themselves to genuine points of clarification. After that, I will ask the minister to move the motion and we will have 90 minutes in which to debate the regulations, although I hope that we will conclude the business in substantially less time than that. Before I ask members whether they have questions for the minister or the officials, I ask the minister to make an opening statement.
Some of the complaints that the bus user complaints tribunal receives will be about buses that have not arrived or left on time, so I made a point of arriving at the committee early. I hope that we roll through the business in a way that does not cause too many complaints.
The background to the regulations is the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. In the policy memorandum to that act, we explained our policy intention to give bus users access to decisions and a voice in securing better services. We met that intention by introducing statutory consultation procedures for all elements of bus services, such as quality partnerships, quality contracts, ticketing schemes and the provision of information.
In addition, at stage 2 of the Transport (Scotland) Bill, we introduced a new section to provide a framework for the bus user complaints tribunal, which will address passengers' complaints about bus services. That provides a new statutory appeals procedure when a bus operator fails to resolve satisfactorily a bus user's complaint. Section 41 of the 2001 act provides Scottish ministers with the power to establish by regulation a tribunal whose remit is to consider complaints from individuals about the delivery of local registered services that bus operators have not satisfactorily resolved.
The regulations establish the tribunal for the purpose of determining any written complaints that are made about the delivery of such services. They also allow the tribunal to determine the payment of reasonable compensation, according to actual out-of-pocket expenses, when an operational failure has occurred. The regulations do not enable the tribunal to consider complaints about changes to bus services. That is a separate matter, which will be covered not by the tribunal but by the bus company or the local authority, depending on the service. The tribunal will deal with individual users' complaints about the failure of a service to deliver and not about where services are provided.
A good example of the kind of complaint that the tribunal might deal with is when the last bus of the evening fails to show up or leaves early and the traveller has to get a taxi in order to complete their journey. In those circumstances, we would expect the bus operator to provide compensation to the traveller. If the traveller finds that they have not been compensated and wishes to pursue the matter further, they should come to the tribunal. In other words, if a person has faced a financial loss as a result of the bus service not delivering to timetable, that case is appropriate for the tribunal to consider.
It is also worth noting that, although the compensation that the tribunal awards is limited to loss on the part of the traveller, the tribunal will have the power to report to Scottish ministers. Indeed, it is required to do that. It will also report to the traffic commissioner. Scottish ministers will lay a copy of any such report before Parliament, which will enable Parliament and the committee to monitor the work of the tribunal in the context of the overall package of accountability to the public of bus operators. It is clearly important to acknowledge that the majority of complaints are dealt with by the operator and are dealt with in a satisfactory way. However, we intend to provide the bus user with another avenue if that fails to happen.
The Subordinate Legislation Committee has raised some points about the regulations. I hope that members will find that our responses deal satisfactorily with those points. Obviously, I am happy to answer any questions. I believe that the tribunal strikes the right balance between safeguarding users' interests and encouraging the bus operators to seek continually to provide better-quality services. If there is one purpose behind the legislation, it is to raise the quality of bus services across Scotland. With those introductory remarks made, I will take any questions.
According to the Subordinate Legislation Committee's report, the regulations seem to contain drafting difficulties. For my clarification, will the minister outline how he has addressed those difficulties?
We have acknowledged one or two points where the drafting might have been tighter. However, as with all legislation, we wish to propose regulations that are practical and workable. There is nothing in the Subordinate Legislation Committee's comments that detracts from the practical aspect of the proposals.
Our response is to acknowledge that one or two matters could have been more precisely drafted. However, in the context of the type of tribunal that we are talking about and the scale of issues with which it will deal, the regulations as drafted are clear enough. It is clear that the regulations will achieve their policy intentions, that they will be workable for those responsible for making them work and that they will be accessible to users. We are satisfied that the regulations are adequate, that they will achieve what they are intended to achieve and that they are proportionate to the circumstances of the tribunal.
I have a small point about the convener of the tribunal acting as the recipient of appeals. That is justified because it might be decided that
"the convener should act in an appellate capacity only."
It would be useful to define what that means.
The decision would be a matter for the tribunal. However, if the tribunal is concerned about the issue in the way that the Subordinate Legislation Committee has suggested, it might choose that the convener should deal with appeals and not with main complaints. That is what that means.
It is entirely for the tribunal to determine its procedures within the framework of the regulations. However, the tribunal is not a body that will determine people's civil rights. It will deal with unresolved complaints and award sums in compensation that are likely to be relatively minor on the scale of compensation for other purposes. I have no particular view on how the tribunal might want to structure its procedures and I would be relaxed about whatever decision it chose to make in that regard.
We talk about the tribunal, but how are its members appointed and who are they? I cannot see anything in the Executive's note that outlines how the tribunal came into being.
As I said in my opening remarks, the tribunal came into being as a result of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. The Executive appoints tribunal members. We have begun the process with a view to making early appointments, once the Parliament has approved the regulations. We hope to have a convener, who will receive a small fee, and two other members, who will receive expenses only, in place shortly, so that the tribunal is up and running in the next few weeks.
As no other member has a question for the minister, we will move into the formal debate.
Motion moved,
That the Transport and the Environment Committee, in consideration of the draft Bus Users Complaints Tribunal Regulations 2002, recommends that the Regulations be approved.—[Lewis Macdonald.]
Do members wish to speak in the debate on the issue?
The regulations are a good thing and we are glad to see them.
Thank you. Does the minister wish to reply?
No. I am sure that Nora Radcliffe's view is representative of the committee and the Parliament. One of our commitments is to improve accountability and consultation. I welcome the committee's support.
Motion agreed to.
I thank the minister for attending and look forward to seeing him again in the future.
Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland Regulations 2002 (SSI 2002/69)
The next item is consideration of SSI 2002/69, which was laid before the Parliament on 26 February 2002 and came into force on 22 March 2002. The time limit for parliamentary action expires on 21 April 2002 and we are required to report on the instrument by 15 April 2002. The Subordinate Legislation Committee considered the instrument at its meeting of 5 March. No points were raised on it. I note that no motion has been lodged to annul the instrument. On that basis, do members agree that the committee does not need to draw the regulations to the attention of the Parliament?
Members indicated agreement.
Again, the regulations are to be welcomed.