Bus Funding

Debate between Louise Haigh and Jonathan Brash

Monday 18th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh]

This afternoon I was delighted to meet the Mayor of the west midlands, Richard Parker, to talk about how he is taking forward the bus powers in the west midlands. I was also delighted to announce the £50 million funding settlement for the west midlands, which will be transformational for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents.

[Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

My constituents know that bus services are not good enough. We welcome the announcement of more powers and more funding for our area, but sadly the Conservative Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, has ruled out any exploration of giving the public control of bus services. Can the Secretary of State tell me how we can get around the bus blocker to ensure that there are decent bus services for Hartlepool constituents?

[Louise Haigh]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. Tees Valley has done very well out of today’s funding settlement, and I would encourage the Mayor to consider franchising options to deliver better bus services for the whole area. I can also confirm that through the better buses Bill we will be lifting the ideological ban on public ownership, so my hon. Friend can certainly consider working with his local authority to set up a publicly owned bus company if the Mayor does not choose to avail himself of those powers.