3. A franchising authority or authorities(1) must include in their franchising scheme and any expansion notice—
(a)the date on which a local service may first be provided under any local service contract(2) in the franchising scheme area or in the area added pursuant to an expansion notice, as the case may be; or
(b)where the franchising scheme or expansion notice provides for scheme sub-areas(3), the date on which a local service may first be provided under a local service contract in each scheme sub-area,
and must update the scheme and any notice forthwith if any such date is changed pursuant to section 123I (postponement of local service contracts) or section 123L (exceptions to section 123K) of the 2000 Act.
The term “franchising authority or authorities” is used in section 123A of the 2000 Act. A franchising scheme may be made by a single authority or by two or more authorities acting jointly. By virtue of section 162(1) of the 2000 Act, as amended by paragraph 23 of Schedule 2 to the Bus Services Act 2017, “franchising authority” has the meaning given in section 123A(4) of the 2000 Act, inserted by section 4 of the Bus Services Act 2017. No Regulations have been made under section 123A(4).
By virtue of section 162(1) of the 2000 Act as amended by paragraph 23 of Schedule 2 to the Bus Services Act 2017, “local service contract” has the meaning given in section 123A(5) of the 2000 Act, inserted by section 4 of the Bus Services Act 2017.
See section 123H(3)(a) of the 2000 Act for the meaning of “scheme sub-area”.