Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to help increase access to public transport for people who (a) unemployed, (b) have a low household income and (c) cannot drive.

The government has taken many steps to ensure that public transport is affordable for people across the country. These include the recent announcement of a further £1 billion, redirected from HS2 by reason of the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, to deliver better bus services in the North and the Midlands. This funding will make services more frequent, more reliable, cheaper, and easier to use. This is part of over £4.5 billion announced by the government to support and improve bus services since 2020.

In addition, in January 2023 the Department introduced the £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside of London, since extended until the end of 2024, taking total government funding to deliver the cap to nearly £600 million.