There are seven Traffic Commissioners in Great Britain. They are appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport to, amongst other things, ensure that bus operators comply with their licence obligations. The Commissioners can take action against bus operators whose services fail to run on time or fail to run along their registered routes. Last year, as a result of complaints from local bus passengers, the Traffic Commissioner for the East of England investigated First Eastern Counties’ bus services here in the Kesgrave area. The investigation confirmed that there were problems with punctuality. It found that around 20% of services ran late or did not turn up at all. At a public inquiry in February 2010 the Traffic Commissioner told First Eastern Counties that the company needed to improve its services. The Traffic Commissioners will investigate local services later this year to check whether they have improved.