Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for trends in lost scheduled bus mileage since 2011.

Since 2011/12, bus miles on local bus services in England outside London have fallen by 6 per cent. This decrease has been driven by a 34 per cent fall in local authority supported mileage since 2011/12. In contrast, commercial mileage on local bus services in England outside London is 2 per cent higher than in 2011/12.

Since 2011/12, bus miles on local bus services in London have remained relatively unchanged with a 0.5 per cent increase.

These statistics do not reflect changes in the use of those community transport services which, because of their nature, are not registered as local bus services. Some local authorities have chosen to support these services as an alternative to more traditional bus routes. The Government is supporting community transport by providing over 300 local charities and community groups with new minibuses through the £25m Community Minibus Fund. The Government also pays out over £3.5 million a year through the Bus Service Operators Grant system to help support individual community transport operators.