Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to help increase the number of passengers on bus routes where the fare is not capped at £2.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The central aim of our National Bus Strategy is to get more people travelling by bus, and we will only achieve this if we can make buses a practical and attractive alternative to the car for more people.
The Department for Transport is investing in the bus sector to deliver the ambitions of the National Bus Strategy to make bus services more reliable and cheaper. We are providing over £2 billion of funding for English Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) outside London to support the delivery of Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs), some of which include the introduction of local fares initiatives. This includes £1 billion from the first phase of BSIP funding announced in 2022, £160m from the second phase of funding announced in May 2023 (BSIP+) and a further £1 billion announced by the Prime Minister in October 2023 for LTAs across the North and the Midlands, redirected from HS2.
Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) in England is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 16 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.
On top of this, we have announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department made an assessment of the impact of the rurality of each council area on the level of funding provided for each bus service improvement plan.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the importance of transport provision in rural areas and is committed to finding solutions which ensure that local communities in these areas have viable and improved transport services.
The Government is supporting LTAs and bus operators with the provision of local bus services. Over £1 billion was allocated to 34 Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) in the first phase of funding for LTAs to deliver their BSIPs. All other LTAs received funding from the £160m BSIP+ fund announced in May 2023. On 4 October Government announced new funding of over £1bn from redirected HS2 funding to levelling up bus services across the North and Midlands, with £150m allocated for 2024/25. This funding has been provided to both urban and rural areas (e.g. Shropshire).
We have also announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025. On top of this, we have extended the £2 fare cap, which includes Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) funded through the Rural Mobility Fund (RMF), until the end of 2024, meaning we are investing nearly £600 million in total to cap bus fares.
LTAs in receipt of BSIP and/or BSIP+ funding may use the funding to target it on the actions that they – and local operators through their Enhanced Partnership (where relevant) – believe will deliver the best overall outcomes in growing long term patronage, revenues and thus maintaining service levels, whilst maintaining essential social and economic connectivity for local communities.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage more bus operators to participate in the £2 bus fare cap.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is investing nearly £600 million to deliver a £2 fare cap on single bus fares in England outside London to help passengers save on their regular travel costs, which the Prime Minister recently announced would be extended until the end of 2024.
The Department for Transport has worked to ensure the fare cap is designed to be as equitable as possible in terms of its support for passengers across England, and worked closely with bus operators in designing and implementing the scheme to try and encourage their participation. This includes reducing the administrative burden on operators where possible. Ultimately, however, participation in the scheme from operators is voluntary and this is therefore a decision for them to take.
The Department for Transport's local bus fare statistics show that between June 22 and June 23, bus fares have dropped by 7.4% in England, outside London, and by 10.8% in rural and non-metropolitan parts of England. In Scotland, Wales and London, where the buses are devolved, fares increased by 10.3%, 6.3% and 6.0%, respectively
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the £2 bus fare cap on passenger numbers in rural areas.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is running a Monitoring and Evaluation exercise to review the £2 bus fare cap scheme so that we will be in position to properly assess the impact it has had on bus fares and patronage. The Department has now published two interim reports on GOV.UK, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-2-bus-fare-cap, and will publish the final report evaluating the impact of the £2 fare cap by the end of Spring 2024.
The Department for Transport's local bus fare statistics show that between June 22 and June 23, bus fares have dropped by 7.4% in England, outside London, and by 10.8% in rural and non-metropolitan parts of England. In Scotland, Wales and London, where the buses are devolved, fares increased by 10.3%, 6.3% and 6.0%, respectively.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the Union Connectivity Review.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government is grateful to Lord Peter Hendy for his Union Connectivity Review. We are taking the time necessary to consider his recommendations, and have been working closely with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, Northern Ireland Executive and key stakeholders, to identify the solutions that work best for the people of the UK. We will publish the Government’s response as soon as is practicable.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to open new railway lines to areas which are not serviced by rail transport.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We want to ensure that all rail investment meets the needs of rail users and communities alike and we will continue to consider all requests for new schemes in line with our rail network enhancement pipeline (RNEP) policy. The RNEP is managed as a portfolio with the prioritisation of schemes and the allocation of funds within it managed and updated on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the average cost of bus fares in (a) North Shropshire constituency, (b) Shropshire and (c) England.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We do not routinely estimate the average cost of bus fares, but the Department does publish the local bus fare index quarterly which estimates the change in the average cost of bus travel to the passenger.
Since 1 January 2023, the Department for Transport has put in place a £2 Fare Cap for singles bus fares which applies to the majority of routes in England outside London, which includes North Shropshire and Shropshire.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rural bus services.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We recognise that the bus sector, particularly in rural areas, continues to face a number of ongoing challenges. That is why we have announced a long-term approach to support and improve bus services with an additional £300m to support services from July 2023 until April 2025. All local transport authorities have completed and published Bus Service Improvement Plans, determining what the needs of their rural residents are and how to best meet these.
Shropshire County Council has been awarded £1,490,492 under Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP+) in 23/24 and has been allocated a total of £2,547,982 in emergency and recovery funding since March 2020 to help maintain bus services.
Additionally, Shropshire County Council receives £512,447 every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to subsidise bus services.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of driving test centre closures on the availability of driving tests in each year since 2015.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Driving test capacity is based on the number of available driving tests, which relates to the numbers of driving test examiners and the number of tests that they are able to carry out per day, rather than the number of sites.
The decision to close a test centre is made if the local demand for testing can be absorbed at an existing nearby centre without reducing test capacity, cancelling tests or impacting on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s recovery plan to reduce waiting times caused by the pandemic.
There has consequently been zero impact in terms of the availability of driving tests. The DVSA recovery plan to reduce waiting times caused by the pandemic has resulted in an additional 586,500 driving tests being made available. As of the 12th December there were over 80,000 car test slots available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help ensure that there is adequate bus service provision in rural areas.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government recognises the importance of transport provision in rural areas. England’s long-term National Bus Strategy, “Bus Back Better”, was published in March 2021, setting out a bold vision for bus services across the country.
The Strategy asked all English Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) outside London to publish Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). It asked for BSIPs to be developed in collaboration with local bus operators and cover the LTA’s full area, all local bus services within it, and the differing needs of any parts of that area, such as rural elements. The Strategy also encouraged new forms of bus provision in areas that are currently not adequately served by conventional timetabled buses.
To support Local Transport Authorities to improve bus services in their areas, we are providing over £1 billion of new money to make bus services more frequent, more reliable, easier to understand and use, better co-ordinated and cheaper. We are also providing practical assistance, including allocating a named Relationship Manager to all LTAs.
Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund is supporting 17 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 15 local authorities in England. The experience gained from these pilots will help LTAs better understand how Demand Responsive Transport might best operate.
In addition, the Government is also providing £60 million to help bus operators cap single fares at £2 on services in England outside London from 1 January to 31 March 2023. Over 130 operators covering more than 4,600 routes throughout England are participating in the scheme, including in rural areas, which will help increase patronage on buses and help millions save on their regular travel costs.