Ms Anne Graham:

We put in place the ten-year rule, which does not actually apply at the moment because we increased the age limit during the Covid pandemic to try to protect as many of the services and keep as many vehicles in the industry as possible. That has helped to recover the industry as quickly as possible. However, we believe it is appropriate that there is an age limit on the vehicles operating a public transport service. Through consultation, ten years was the chosen age, and we do think it is appropriate that that maximum age is put in place. However, given climate issues, and looking particularly at electric vehicles, that can be considered again. For the moment, however, as regards performance and emissions, certainly for petrol and diesel cars, we do need to see the age of ten years returned to and retained over the next few years.