Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 7 of his Department's publication, Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) Information pack and Conditions of Eligibility, how much his Department has spent on (a) the eight per cent ITSO smartcard BSOG supplement and (b) the two per cent Automatic Vehicle Location BSOG supplement in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15; and what his Department's projected expenditure is in 2015-16 on those items.

This information is set out in the table below.

£ million

Since 2010, these two supplements have helped lead to real benefits for passengers. Over 86% of buses in England outside London are now smart-equipped and 93% of buses outside London now have automatic vehicle location equipment compared to 45% in 2009-10.

At this stage it is too early to estimate the likely payments for 2015/16.