Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to extend the Bus Recovery Grant beyond March 2022 to help support the recovery of bus transport in the North of England.

The Government recognises the vital importance of bus services to local economies and communities across the country.

We have provided over £1.5bn to maintain essential local bus services outside London since March 2020, ensuring that people can continue to get to work, school, and shops safely and easily.

The Chancellor also confirmed a further £1.2bn to deliver London-style services, fares and infrastructure improvements. This will help to deliver the PM’s ‘Bus Back Better’ strategy for transforming bus services across England, and means that dedicated spending on buses will more than double over this Parliament taking into account wider investment in thousands of new zero emission buses.