Mr. David Conway:

It is mixture of both. Some people received offers or grants of licences even during Covid-19 or just prior and are only now in a position to start mobilising those services. It is a case of use it or lose it. The warning time given is quite short. On existing licences, many services were scaled back for various reasons, one of which was Covid-19 in particular. Now, as operators seek to put those services back in, there are challenges. Demand may not have fully recovered and we are in what we would term our "off-season", whereas the summer is always a busier time. It would be more appropriate that those services be mobilised next year, as opposed to having to mobilise them now coming into the winter. Coupled with driver shortages, it has not always been possible to put particular departure times or journeys back in on licences. We are asking for an extension and for flexibility so that it is there for a longer period.