Asked by: Nicola Richards (Conservative - West Bromwich East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether (a) Diamond Bus, (b) Sandwell Council and (c) Transport for West Midlands received a (i) bus service operator and (ii) bus recovery grant in each of the last three years.
Answered by Richard Holden - Opposition Whip (Commons)
Diamond Bus is a commercial bus operator and recovery funding provided to them by the Department for Transport through the Bus Recovery Grant is commercially sensitive. Diamond Bus Ltd received £1,600,478.60 in 19/20, £1,264,742.20 in 20/21 and £1,712,055.34 in 21/22 through the Bus Service Operator Grant.
Transport for West Midlands oversees transport in Sandwell Council and all funding provided to them under the Bus Service Operators Grant and Bus Recovery Grant is paid to West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). WMCA has received £1,792,259 annually since 2013 through the Bus Service Operator Grant. WMCA have been allocated £7.3m from March 2020 to October 2022 to support services through the pandemic, of which they received £4.2 million via Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant, £1.2 million via Bus Recovery Grant and £1.9 million from the Local Transport Fund.
The Department for Transport also provided funding to WMCA to support its bus network for the duration of the Commonwealth Games in 2022. WMCA therefore also received an additional £23.4m under the Network Stabilisation Fund and Network Planning Fund which can be used to maintain bus services.