Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Loder Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

Absolutely. The £3 billion, which is going into new buses, will help us to produce 4,000 additional buses. We want them to be low and zero-carbon electric buses, of course, but also hydrogen buses, so we will certainly be taking that forward. I will be saying more about that very shortly.

[Chris Loder (West Dorset) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to support commercial bus routes that are in service during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Sir Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)]

When he next plans to meet with representatives of bus and coach operators.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Rachel Maclean)]

The Government are providing significant funding for the bus industry at this time. Our covid-19 funding package for England’s buses totals £651 million. The Government provide £43 million annually to local authorities for supporting socially necessary services, plus £30 million of additional funding in 2021 to support, improve or restore services. Ministers and officials meet regularly with key stakeholders, including local transport authorities and operators to discuss a wide range of matters.

[Chris Loder]

The Government’s public messaging to discourage the non-essential use of buses, and of open-access trains for that matter, is deeply damaging commercial routes that rely on public fares to remain viable. Will the Minister commit to reviewing that message and to safeguarding those commercial routes, such as the rural bus routes in my constituency of West Dorset?

[Rachel Maclean]

My hon. Friend is right. We obviously keep all measures under review at all times, but our priority is always to keep the public safe. Thanks to the support that the Government have put into the bus industry, the vast majority of bus services in England are currently running.