Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to (a) tackle reductions in bus services and (b) help ensure that older people can access transport.

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. This funding builds on the over £2 billion the Government provided to bus operators and LTAs from March 2020 to June 2023 to keep bus services running and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.

This funding is in addition to the over £1 billion the Government is providing to 34 counties, city regions and unitary authorities to help local areas level up their bus services and deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans. 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 Government supports council spending of around £1 billion a year on concessionary travel so that eligible older and disabled people can travel on off-peak buses up and down the country for free. Statistics for 2021/22 showed that concessionary bus journeys are down by more than a third since before the pandemic. That is why we recently launched the ‘Take the Bus’ communications drive to encourage older and disabled people who are eligible for a concessionary pass to use the free bus travel available to them to get out and about, meet friends and family, and rediscover local attractions.