Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with local authorities on providing the coach industry the same financial support as taxi companies.

We continue to work closely with Local Authorities, other Government Departments and representatives from the coach sector, including the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK to understand the ongoing risks and issues the sector faces and how these could be addressed.

In addition to the financial support measures available to all UK businesses, including the coach industry, Local Authorities have discretion to provide further support to businesses in their area on the basis of local need. Some areas have provided targeted support to the coach and taxi sectors.

From 2 December councils in England in Tier 2 and Tier 3 will receive funding to provide grants to closed businesses and to be able to run local discretionary grant schemes to provide support to affected businesses. These allocations will be published shortly and are in addition to the £2.3 billion already provided to local councils since the start of the pandemic. The Local Authority administers the scheme and determines on a case-by-case basis where to allocate this funding.