Oral Answers to Questions

Jane Hunt Excerpts

Thursday 20th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Nicola Richards (West Bromwich East) (Con)]

4. What steps he is taking to help ensure the continuity of bus services.

[Jane Hunt (Loughborough) (Con)]

14. What steps he is taking to support local bus services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Richard Holden)]

The Government have provided over £2 billion since March 2020 to protect vital bus services, with that support set to continue until June 2023. As a result, bus service provision in England outside London remained at over 85% of pre-covid levels in 2021-22, despite patronage and commercial fare revenue remaining significantly lower. We are actively working on long-term plans to support the sector from the start of July and will set out further details in due course.

[Mr Holden]

I thank my hon. Friend for her work on this matter. She has mentioned it to me in meetings already and I know she is really campaigning in this area. The Government have provided significant help to support our bus sector, with over £1.8 billion in 2021-22 alone. That includes over £7.3 million since March 2020 to West Midlands Combined Authority to protect bus services. We are also considering further support for the sector from July onwards. I look forward to working with her to convince other parts of Government to ensure we can deliver that.

[Jane Hunt]

According to the Department for Transport, bus usage remains, as we just heard, at around 85% to 90% of pre-covid levels. That means many bus routes are no longer considered commercially viable for operators, despite being vital to communities. That is true of the No. 2 bus in my constituency, which will no longer connect Loughborough and the villages of Quorn, Barrow and Sileby with Leicester. Will the Minister please consider further subsidising bus routes to ensure reliable services, which will help attract passengers back and prevent rural communities becoming isolated?

[Mr Holden]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She has already mentioned this to me and I know how important these services are. I have a semi-rural constituency myself, so I understand that such connections are vital. Prior to the pandemic roughly 40% of operator revenues came from public funds, including from concessionary bus fares, and at the moment the figure is at about 57%. It is right that councils decide which bus routes they want to support, but I hope that with the extra moneys we have provided over the past two years, and hopefully into the future, we will be able to provide a long-term solution for the communities she represents.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Jesse Norman)]

The Government are spending £3 billion on this area over the current spending period. Active Travel England is making an enormous difference to the quality of schemes throughout England. Significant amounts of money are going in through the levelling-up fund and through City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and other schemes, so we believe that we are on track to meet our targets.

[Jane Hunt (Loughborough) (Con)]

T6. Barrow and Sileby train stations in my constituency are currently in need of vital improvements to make them more accessible to passengers. Can the Minister please provide me with an update on when the Access for All scheme will reopen for applications and whether there are any other pots of funding available for accessibility improvements in the meantime?

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Huw Merriman)]

The Department commissioned station nominations for Access for All in May of last year and is currently assessing more than 300 stations that were put forward. They include Barrow-upon-Soar and Sileby. I hope to be in a position later this year to announce the successful projects.