Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the contribution of coach travel in connecting the South West.

The Department recognises the important role coach sector plays in providing access across the country for education, business and leisure. We work with the sector to ensure they can continue to provide vital links between towns and cities, to places of education and other transport connections.

The Western Gateway Sub-National Transport Body is doing positive work to improve coach connectivity in the South West. In 2023, it published its Coach Strategy, which provided a comprehensive review of the sector in the South West and identified the role the sector can play in improving regional connectivity.