Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many orders for zero-emission buses purchased through the Government's grant scheme have been placed outside of the UK.

In March 2021 the Government launched the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme which was open to local transport authorities who were able to bid for funding to introduce zero emission buses (ZEBs) and the infrastructure needed to support them. The Government has announced nearly £270 million funding from the ZEBRA scheme to support 1,278 ZEBs in 17 areas.

Orders for ZEBs will be placed by local transport authorities or bus operators. A number of UK bus manufacturers are well placed to benefit from funding from the ZEBRA scheme supporting jobs and a green recovery for the sector.

On 31 August 2022 First Bus announced that they had placed an order for 193 electric ZEBs as a result of funding from the ZEBRA scheme. This is the largest electric bus order in the UK outside of London. The order has been placed with UK bus manufacturer Wrightbus, securing high value green jobs in the country. The remaining successful areas are conducting procurement processes and we expect further orders to be placed in the coming months.