Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria his Department plans to use to determine whether to grant consent to franchising authorities which make an application for franchising powers under the Bus Services Act 2017.

The Department has recently published guidance on bus franchising which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bus-services-act-2017-bus-franchising-creation

The Act provides automatic access to franchising powers to mayoral combined authorities. The criteria the Secretary of State will use to determine whether to grant consent to non-mayoral combined authorities will focus on whether the authority in question has clear and locally supported aspirations which will benefit passengers and a sensible plan in place, as well as the right capabilities to make franchising a success.

The Secretary of State meets local authorities, including non-mayoral authorities, on a regular basis. We do not comment on the content of individual meetings.