Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11430, what steps his Department took before 15 September 2015 in relation to bus operators who submitted claims for Bus Service Operators Grant funding to support closed bus services.

In considering claims from bus operators for Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) for the bus services that they run, my department analyses each claim to ensure that these meet the eligibility criteria for the grant scheme, including those relating to services which serve educational establishments. Where we receive claims that we consider to be ineligible for BSOG – for instance closed services - and where operators are unable to demonstrate that they are eligible, the claims are disallowed. The eligibility criteria for the scheme are printed on the forms which operators must fill in and submit to the department in order to claim the grant.