National Bus Strategy

Lord Bradshaw Excerpts

Wednesday 16th December 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Bradshaw]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for the National Bus Strategy for England to address the impact of traffic congestion on the operation of buses.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport (Baroness Vere of Norbiton) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are committed to publishing a national bus strategy next year, and we are working closely with local authorities and bus operators to ensure that buses play a significant role in connecting people, helping the economy to meet our net-zero ambitions and improving air quality. We will also implement the moving traffic enforcement powers under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

[Lord Bradshaw (LD) [V]]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Much serious delay is caused to buses by roadworks. Are these being properly managed by local highway authorities, and are the penalties for non-compliance with agreed arrangements appropriate?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)]

My Lords, roadworks have been quite a focus for the Department for Transport over recent months. It is the case that nearly all local authorities operate a permit scheme for undertakers to have access to the road when they want to dig it up, and they have powers to co-ordinate those works and to charge the undertakers when the works are not done in time. Not only that, the department has set up the Street Manager system, which is a digital service that puts all the information about roadworks in one place. It is open data that is available to bus companies, so they can see where roadworks are taking place.