Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of the shortfall of bus and coach drivers in Britain on that industry.

My Department is working closely with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) to gather information to gain an understanding of the current staffing levels and recruitment pipeline in the bus sector.

The Government remains committed to maintaining high service levels for bus users to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and has announced £226.5 million in Bus Recovery Funding to support this.