Oral Answers to Questions

Aphra Brandreth Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood]

The hon. Member raises an important question. Of course, our Department works closely with our colleagues in the Home Office to tackle crime of that sort. I am sure that the Minister with responsibility for roads, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell (Simon Lightwood), would be happy to write to him about those regulations.

[Aphra Brandreth (Chester South and Eddisbury) (Con)]

10. What steps her Department is taking to help improve rural transport connections.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood)]

In rural communities, good public transport options can make the difference to being able to access work, education and opportunities. The Bus Services Act 2025 gives local leaders real control, so that they can plan routes and timetables that work for villages and more remote areas, not just commercially viable corridors. From this year, smaller towns and rural areas will receive £2.3 billion through the local transport grant. That will give councils the certainty and flexibility to invest in better rural buses, safer roads and improved local links as they plan for the future.

[Aphra Brandreth]

In my Chester South and Eddisbury constituency, villages like Little Budworth have no bus services at all, and are miles from any public transport. Even where a school bus exists, families tell me that if a child misses that single service, there is simply no alternative. In villages like Milton Green, families are forced to rely on infrequent and unreliable rural buses to get children as young as 11 to school—buses that often simply do not turn up. Parents have asked me a simple question: why can they not pay for spare seats on dedicated school buses that are already running? Will the Minister work with me and local councils to deliver a more flexible, common-sense approach for rural families?