Oral Answers to Questions

Luke Myer Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

10. What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

11. What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.

--- Later in debate ---

[Simon Lightwood]

I have met Go Ahead, which is working with the council to pick up services that otherwise would have been lost. The Government are providing long-term investment for bus services, totalling £30.2 million for Cornwall, and I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to talk about bus services in Cornwall.

[Luke Myer]

I have raised many times in this place the state of our bus services in rural east Cleveland. I am grateful to the Government for the powers and funding that have come to Tees Valley for public transport, but we are still not seeing the benefits in east Cleveland. On 20 March, Tees Valley combined authority will vote on the next stage of bus funding. Does the Minister agree that it should prioritise our rural villages, which have been left behind for far too long?

[Simon Lightwood]

The Tees Valley Mayor has all the powers and funding from the Labour Government to fix the buses, so it is disappointing, if not surprising, that he is choosing not to do so. In the meantime, I applaud my hon. Friend’s efforts to ensure that east Cleveland is not forgotten, and I support his call to ensure that the available funding is used to better connect its villages.