Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to prevent local authorities reducing support to bus operators following receipt of a Bus Operators’ Grant.

Since 2014, the Department for Transport has paid around £43m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) per year directly to local authorities. This element of BSOG relates to services which local authorities procure directly because they would not otherwise be commercially viable.

Between April 2014 and March 2018, this funding was ring-fenced so that authorities must spend it on bus services.

The Department will set out its plans for this year’s funding alongside issuing the grant to local authorities.