Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what auditing arrangements there are for bus service recovery funding for operators; what proportion of claims from operators are audited; and whether it has been necessary to take action to recover bus recovery funding claims as a result of that auditing.

The Bus Recovery Grant scheme has been designed to comply with the grants principles as set out by Cabinet Office. The checking process for the grant, set out in the terms and conditions, is conducted across three separate levels: the baselining process at the start of the scheme; the monthly assurance checks against each period return from every operator; and 2 part review exercise which will provide additional assurance to the grant. The details of this review exercise are due to be communicated to operators within the scheme shortly.

DfT conducts due diligence checks on all claims submitted as part of the scheme. Action will be taken to recover funding where this is deemed appropriate following this checking process. At the time of writing, no monies have been claimed back from operators for this grant. This is however an on-going process and is subject to change through the lifetime of the scheme, where the Department will take action to recover funds where it becomes necessary.