Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the government plans to review procurement rules that prevent local authorities from prioritising UK-built buses.

This Government is determined to ensure that the £400bn spent annually on procurement benefits British industry, jobs, and skills.

This government recently brought in The Local Government (Non-commercial Considerations) (England) Order 2026 so that local authorities in England can reserve competitions for below-threshold contracts to local or UK businesses. In addition, the Department for Transport has recently published a 10- year Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) Order Pipeline detailing the expected procurement of battery-electric and zero-emission buses between 2026 and 2035. This will provide far greater planning certainty for UK bus manufacturers.

I also announced new reforms on March 26th 2026 to ensure that government procurement does much more to protect national security, including by supporting critical UK industries, in line with our international trade agreements, and that it helps deliver a fairer economy. As part of this, we are creating a new definition of Social Value in Government Procurement, which will give additional weight to support local jobs, skills and community impact.