Transport Act 1978

1 Passenger transport policies in county areas

(1) In each non-metropolitan county of England and Wales, it shall be the duty—

(a) of the county council, acting in consultation with public passenger transport service operators and district councils within the county—

(i) to develop policies which will promote the provision of a co-ordinated and efficient system of public passenger transport to meet the county's needs, and

(ii) for that purpose to take such steps as the council think appropriate for promoting the coordination, amalgamation and re-organisation of road passenger transport undertakings in the county ;

(b) of each of the district councils in the county who provide any public passenger transport service to operate the service in accordance with policies developed by the county council as mentioned in paragraph (a) above; and

(c) of public passenger transport service operators, and the county and district councils—

(i) to co-operate with one another in the exercise and performance of their respective functions for the purpose of co-ordinating public passenger transport services within the county, and

(ii) to afford to one another such information as may be reasonably required for that purpose.

(2) In this section and sections 2 and 4 below, " public passenger transport services " means all those services (whether publicly or privately operated) on which members of the public rely for getting from place to place, when not relying on private facilities of their own, including school transport but not—

(a) services provided in accordance with permits under the [1977 c. 25.] Minibus Act 1977 (carriage of passengers by bodies concerned with education, social welfare etc.); or

(b) excursions or tours within the meaning of the 1968 Act.

(3) For the purpose of such co-operation as is referred to in subsection (1)(c) above, all those mentioned in that subsection shall have power to enter into such arrangements with one another with respect to the exercise and performance of their respective functions on such terms as may appear to them to be expedient.

(4) Those who provide public passenger transport services may under subsection (3) enter into arrangements between themselves for the establishment under the Companies Acts of companies controlled (jointly or severally) by the parties to the arrangements and for—

(a) the transfer of assets to such companies ; and

(b) facilitating the voluntary transfer of employees.

(5) The council of a non-metropolitan county or non-metropolitan district may make grants towards any costs incurred by persons carrying on public passenger transport undertakings wholly or partly in the county or district, as the case may be, and may also make grants—

(a) to persons providing community bus services; and

(b) in cases where local authorities and traffic commissioners have consented, under paragraph 5 of Schedule 12 to the 1960 Act, to the advertisement of facilities as being provided under a social car scheme, to persons arranging those facilities.

(6) Where, in carrying out their duty under subsection (1)(b) above, a district council incur expenditure which they would not otherwise have incurred or receive less revenue than they would otherwise have done, the district council may, by notice to the county council, require the county council to reimburse the amount of that expenditure or of that reduction in revenue.

(7) If any amount which, in accordance with the notice under subsection (6) above, a county council are required to reimburse to a district council is not determined by agreement between those councils within 6 months of the receipt of the notice or such longer period as may be agreed between them, the amount shall be determined by an arbitrator appointed either by agreement between those councils or, in default of such agreement, by the President of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.