79.These sections amend, and insert new provisions in relation to, sections 124 to 134 of the TA 2000, which provide for the making of quality contracts schemes (“QCSs”) in England and Wales. A quality contracts scheme is a scheme under which the local authority determines the local bus network for the area to which the scheme relates. Where such a scheme is in place local bus services in that area can only be provided under quality contracts (with the exception of services specifically excluded from the scheme by virtue of section 127(4) of the TA 2000, or services registered in accordance with new section 6B of the TA 1985 — see notes on section 49). A quality contract is a contract under which the authority grants a particular operator the exclusive right to operate certain services following a competitive tender.
80.One effect of the amendments is to replace the existing requirement that a quality contracts scheme must be the “only practicable way” of implementing the policies in the local authority’s bus strategy with a new set of criteria.
*Section 110 of the TA 2000 provides that a bus strategy must be included within a local transport authority’s local transport plan. Section 10 specifies that a bus strategy is no longer required.
81.The provisions also abolish the requirement for quality contracts schemes in England to be approved by the Secretary of State; instead, they establish a new type of board (“QCS boards”) to provide advice and recommendations to the authority proposing to make the scheme. A separate board is to be assembled for each application. There is a right of appeal to the Transport Tribunal against an English local transport authority’s decision to make a quality contracts scheme. The amendments also include a number of other changes to allow schemes to be implemented in stages, to extend the maximum duration of quality contracts, to enable schemes to be continued beyond their initial period, and generally to allow greater flexibility. New sections are also inserted into the TA 2000 to provide for certain employment protections to apply to workers whose jobs are affected by the implementation of quality contracts schemes, and to allow the authority who made a quality contracts scheme to operate local bus services within the area of that scheme in certain very limited circumstances.
82.These sections extend to England and Wales, although – as noted below – some provisions apply only in relation to schemes in England.