Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the value for money to the public purse of (a) protecting existing levels of bus provision and (b) rebuilding bus service provision from a passenger base which may be up to 30 per cent lower than before the covid-19 outbreak, as reported by the Urban Transport Group in Continuing COVID Funding Support for Urban Public Transport, published in February 2022.

The Department has conducted analysis on current service levels and future passenger trends, informed by input of stakeholders such as the Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Urban Transport Group. We are currently discussing with HMT the costs and benefits of extending the Bus Recovery Grant scheme.