Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the Bus Service Improvement Plan on bus patronage.

The Department for Transport has commissioned a process, impact and value for money evaluation of the Bus Service Improvement Plan Programme, a £1.1 billion tranche of funding allocated to 34 Local Transport Authorities (LTAs). The work will answer questions surrounding how the plans were delivered, the scheme's impact, and its value for money, including an assessment of the scheme’s impact on bus patronage. Due to the early stage in the lifetime of the programme, data on patronage levels at an LTA-wide level is not yet available.