Asked by: Natalie Fleet (Labour - Bolsover)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to protect bus services in Derbyshire that travel to (a) hospitals, (b) leisure attractions and (c) other key out of town locations.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December as part of its ambitious plan for bus reform. The Bill puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of the communities that rely on them right across England, including ensuring access to vital local services such as hospitals or providing links to leisure attractions. The government has committed to increasing accountability by including a measure on socially necessary services so that local authorities and bus operators have to have regard for alternatives to changing or cancelling services.
In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities, of which East Midlands Combined County Authority has been allocated £40.5 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
Asked by: Natalie Fleet (Labour - Bolsover)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bus routes have been registered in Derbyshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain only publish data on a Traffic Area wide basis. The North Western Traffic Area includes the counties of Derbyshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire, and the metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Between the 2019-20 and 2023-24 reporting years the Traffic Commissioner annual reports detail the following:
Applications Processed | ||||
| Live local bus registrations | New | Variations | Existing registrations cancelled |
2023-24 | 1665 | 541 | 1014 | 752 |
2022-23 | 2028 | 420 | 1569 | 617 |
2021-22 | 2679 | 487 | 1952 | 560 |
2020-21 | 2847 | 258 | 2393 | 254 |
2019-20 | 3177 | 548 | 1875 | 577 |
An existing registration being cancelled does not always mean a bus route was closed. For example, a registration could have been cancelled and replaced with another registration that covers much of the same route, or the route continues to be served by different operator.
It should also be noted that prior to 2019-20 the total number of live local bus service registrations included an element of double-counting as services running across multiple local authority areas were recorded multiple times, e.g. a service running between Derbyshire and Greater Manchester was presented as two services when it should have been counted as a single service. This has now been rectified.
Asked by: Natalie Fleet (Labour - Bolsover)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with National Highways on works to improve congestion at junction 28 of the M1.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Officials from my Department regularly engage with National Highways on the progress of proposals to improve the safety and performance of Junction 28 of the M1. The proposals are in early stages of development and are being considered for possible delivery as part of a future Road Investment Strategy.
Asked by: Natalie Fleet (Labour - Bolsover)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) the level of transport related social exclusion and (b) cuts to community transport by Derbyshire County Council on people in Bolsover constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government understands that a modern transport network is vital to kickstarting economic growth, providing access to services and preventing isolation. Good local transport services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities, connecting people and enabling access to employment, education and essential services.
The Government confirmed almost £1bn to support bus funding across England. Derbyshire County Council, which is now part of East Midland Combined Authority (EMCA), will benefit from a total bus funding of more than £40m which will be allocated to the EMCA to support, improve and protect bus services and keep fares down. The Bus Service Improvement Plan for Derbyshire County Council can be found here.
We encourage local transport authorities to engage with community transport operators when preparing their Bus Service Improvement Plans, which are vital in setting out long-term plans for bus services and how they will be improved.