The Transport Committee has criticised the government’s response to its recommendations on improving bus services as part of the Buses Connecting Communities inquiry.
Following the response, which was published today, the cross-party group of backbench MPs says the government is “lacking in ambition” to enhance bus connectivity.
Among the recommendations rejected by the government was a call for an England-wide pilot scheme for free travel for under-22s.
This was dismissed as unaffordable in a challenging fiscal environment.
“Expanding concessionary travel would therefore be unaffordable within this SR (Spending Review) period without diverting funding away from maintaining current bus service levels,” says the government in its response.
“As with the model of bus service delivery more widely, we believe local leaders are best placed to decide on the measures which will work best in their local area.”
The current Spending Review period ends in 2028-29.
Of the 19 recommendations made in its report, the Transport Committee says it was generally disappointed by the response, although it noted some positives.
The Bus Services Act is a positive and necessary start to the work of reviving bus services, but it cannot be the last word
Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury MP says: “When the Government announced its bus sector reforms last year, it spoke of an ‘overhaul’ and a ‘revolution’. But its approach now looks lacking in ambition, and it is hard to shake the feeling that an opportunity may be missed, particularly to improve services in rural and underserved communities.
“A number of our recommendations regarding Department for Transport’s (DfT) role in helping local areas to up their game have been misunderstood. Meanwhile, its plans for ‘socially necessary routes’, which by their nature are commercially unviable, are in danger of being left without enough funding to be effectively implemented.
“Throughout our inquiry we heard about the consequences of poor connectivity. Young people unable to get their first jobs or taking exhausting journeys to reach school or college. Older and disabled people feeling isolated and depressed, and high streets starved of customers.
“Any serious attempt to revive services and make public transport equitable across the country will need new funding. And yet the most targeted proposals for how to provide funding where it would make the most difference are shrugged off with a suggestion that no decision will likely come before the next Spending Review – not for another three years.
“The Bus Services Act is a positive and necessary start to the work of reviving bus services, but it cannot be the last word. Local authorities need more opportunity, funding and incentives to grow their networks and passenger numbers.”
The government announced it was considering introducing a rural weighting into its revised Bus Service Improvement Plan funding formula, following one of the Committee’s recommendations.
A revised formula already saw local need considered in the FY2025/26 BSIP allocations in England, but DfT may introduce a rurality metric for the 2026/27 allocations made later this year.
Addressing another of the recommendations, the government says it will commit to exploring the possibility of a five-year funding settlement for bus services with the Treasury as part of the next Spending Review.
On reform of the Bus Services Operators Grant, the government responded to the Committee’s suggestion that patronage growth should be incentivised by being based on passenger journeys rather than mileage.
DfT says: “We want to avoid situations where reform helps those who are already doing well over those who are not, for example by moving to passenger-based metrics which could incentivise services that already enjoy high farebox revenue, while reducing funding for areas with lower passenger use.”
The Transport Committee suggested government funds for local authorities for socially necessary bus services should be ringfenced. However, the government responded that local variations would make it difficult to ascertain appropriate sums.
As for the recommendation that local authorities should be required to publish their own methodology setting out how they decide socially necessary routes, DfT says it does not agree with setting one “standardised” approach. However, the Committee continued its criticism by saying it was not calling for this – “only that authorities should be transparent about the methodology they adopt”.
The Committee welcomed the government’s comments expanding on the Bus Indicator Pilot, launched in April, which tests indicators including passenger satisfaction scores, punctuality and reliability metrics, accessibility measures, and safety outcomes with the aim of creating a national system for monitoring and comparing bus service performance.
