Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the cost to passengers of public bus services.

The Department publishes an annual index of local bus fares from 1995 onwards.

This table can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/35990/bus0405.xls

Between 1997 and 2010 local bus fares in England rose annually by 2.2% on average in real terms. Between 2010 and 2016, the comparative figure is 1.2%.

The bus market outside London is deregulated and decisions regarding setting the level of fares, is primarily a commercial matter for bus operators.