Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating her Department's guidance for local transport authorities to require them to have an alternative dispute resolution when franchising services.

The Department for Transport published guidance to local authorities on tendering for road passenger transport contracts in 2013. This included advice on dispute resolution. There are no plans to revise that guidance because there are no specific rules or requirements for tendering or awarding bus contracts in buses legislation. It is for individual franchising authorities to determine the appropriate dispute resolution process when tendering or awarding local service contracts.