The government has said a new law will give councils and communities more control over local transport services.

Opening the second reading debate on the Local Transport Bill in the Commons on Wednesday, transport minister Rosie Winterton said the legislation would "empower" local decision makers.

The Bill includes provisions for local authorities to review and propose their own arrangements for local transport governance, including the availability of local bus services.

Town halls will also be enabled, in the medium term, to introduce local road pricing pilot schemes to tackle congestion.

Winterton said: "This Bill has a strong focus on empowering local communities to address the transport challenges they face today.

"It does so by ensuring the the right powers are available at the right level to deliver the changes that are needed locally by giving a stronger voice to transport users and by ensuring that the right governance arrangements can be put in place locally to make the decisions that are needed."

She added: "The Bill will enable integrated transport authorities to play a stronger role in planning transport across local authority areas by making them responsible for the preparation of local transport plans.

"This will help to ensure a consistent and coherent approach for example in planning a network of bus lanes across a conurbation."

And the minister insisted that: "The Bill makes it absolutely clear that it is for local authorities not central government to decide whether local road charging is right for their areas and it also confirms that scheme revenues are for the local authority to spend on local transport even after the first 10 years of the scheme."

However shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said there were "significant parts of the Bill which we think take our bus network in the wrong direction".

She said the Conservatives were also concerned that proposals on local congestion charging could "price people off the roads" and become "another stealth tax."

"The freedom to travel is an important element of people's quality of life," the Tory spokesman said.

"A key part of reconciling local congestion charging projects with social justice is to ensure that where they operate they are accompanied by viable alternative travel arrangements open to those on lower incomes."