Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Williams Excerpts

Thursday 24th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

It all sounds very sophisticated, although it is a bit above my pay grade, I am bound to say.

[Dr Paul Williams (Stockton South) (Lab)]

5. What steps his Department is taking to support local bus services.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

14. What steps his Department is taking to improve the provision of bus services throughout the country.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

The bus market outside London is deregulated, and decisions regarding service provision are primarily a commercial matter for bus operators. Decisions on subsidised bus services are a matter for individual English local authorities, in the light of their own spending priorities. The Government paid out some £250 million last year to support bus services in England through the bus subsidy operators grant. The Bus Services Act 2017 introduced new powers for local authorities and operators to work together to improve local bus services and increase passenger numbers.

[Dr Williams]

Arriva has cut the bus service in Hartburn on which my constituents rely, replacing a doorstep service with what is now a 20-minute walk for older people. I have written to the Tees Valley combined authority about it, but what is the Government’s position on communities that are isolated by public transport cuts?

[Ms Ghani]

The hon. Gentleman has raised a valid point, but local authorities are responsible for providing local bus services, and we expect them to work with local operators, Members of Parliament and local communities to do that. Of the £250 million grant that I mentioned earlier, £40 million is paid directly to local authorities to improve bus services in their areas, including the service to which the hon. Gentleman has referred. I believe that the Department paid £88,000 last year to Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, which I am sure he will welcome.