8.The main body of current law in relation to bus services in Wales is set out in various statutes, including the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 (the “1981 Act”), and the Transport Act 1985 (the “1985 Act”).
9.The 1981 Act establishes traffic commissioners for traffic areas in England and Wales (Part 1) and makes provision about public service vehicles (PSVs) and the licensing of persons to operate them (Part 2). The 1981 Act is not amended by this Act (indeed PSV operator licensing is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament under paragraph 113 of Schedule 7A to the Government of Wales Act 2006). These provisions are however relevant to the subject matter of the Act in that one of the two potential qualifying criteria for entering into a local bus service contract under the Act with an operator, or granting an operator a local bus service permit under the Act, is that the operator must hold a PSV operator’s licence.
10.The 1985 Act requires a local service (as defined in that Act) to be registered with a traffic commissioner under section 6 of that Act. This provision is amended by the Act in its application to local bus services, as discussed below.
General Background