Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has considered the recommendation of the Children’s Commissioner’s report entitled Growing up in a low-income family: Children’s experiences, published in July 2025, to provide access to free bus travel for (a) school age children and (b) care leavers up to 25.

The Government knows how important affordable bus services are in enabling young people to get to education, work and access vital services.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. The ENCTS costs around £700 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as expanding the eligibility criteria to include school students and care leavers up to age 25, would therefore need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability. However, local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, including to those aged 16 and under, and 17–18-year-olds in full-time education, as discretionary enhancements to the ENCTS. Additional local concessions are provided and funded by local authorities from local resources.

At present, the majority of bus services operate on a commercial basis by private operators, and any decisions regarding the level at which fares are set outside the scope of the government’s £3 bus fare cap are commercial decisions for operators. Bus operators can choose to offer discounted fares for young people, and in the year ending March 2025, youth discounts were offered by at least one commercial bus operator in 73 out of 85 local authority areas in England outside London.

As part of the Autumn 2024 Budget, the Government allocated £955 million to support and improve bus services in 25/26. This includes £712 million for local authorities, this can be used to expand services and improve reliability, which are currently massive obstacles for too many people. Surrey County Council has been allocated £12 million of this funding. Funding allocated to local authorities to deliver better bus services can be used in whichever way they wish to improve services for passengers, which could include introducing new fares initiatives to reduce the cost of bus travel for school-age children and care leavers.