Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing a long-term funding system for bus (a) operators and (b) manufacturers.

The Department for Transport recently announced a long-term approach to protect and improve bus services backed by an additional £300 million until April 2025. £140 million of this funding will go to bus operators to support services, and the remaining £160 million will go to Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to protect and enhance bus services, and support local fares initiatives.

We also make available up to £259 million every year for bus operators and LTAs to keep fares down and run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation through the Bus Service Operators Grant.

The Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme did not provide funding for bus manufacturers; however, we have provided £269.57 million to Local Transport Authorities to support the introduction of 1,300 zero emission buses and supporting infrastructure. This is part of the government’s wider investment in zero-emission buses (ZEBs), which totals over £450m and funded an estimated 4,200 ZEBs across the UK so far.