Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many claims were made by bus operators for Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding for school services that were not entitled to receive BSOG support in 2014-15; and how many operators made such claims.

Operators of bus services serving educational establishments are entitled to claim BSOG for these services as long as they are also available for members of the general public to catch. However, “closed” bus services – used only by students and staff of educational establishments, and from which the wider public are excluded - are not eligible for BSOG. When it came to our attention recently that some operators may have submitted claims for closed bus services the Department wrote to all operators claiming BSOG in England reminding them of which educational services are eligible for the grant. We will take strong measures where operators claim for such ineligible services in future. Accurate figures for how many operators or routes may have claimed for closed services during 2014/15 are not readily available.