Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level and frequency of local bus services since 4 July 2024; and what the minimum service levels are in each local authority area.

The Department for Transport publishes statistics on vehicle distance travelled on local bus services, which can be used as a proxy for bus service levels. These figures are not specifically available from 4 July 2024 onwards, but are available for the year ending March 2025 in the Department's published Annual Bus Statistics. This data can be found in Table BUS02: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#local-bus-vehicle-distance-travelled-bus02. The Department does not currently hold a dataset that provides local bus service frequency in a readily available format.

The Government believes that local authorities, working with bus operators, are best placed to determine the design of local bus networks in their areas, and there are no centrally-prescribed minimum service levels. The Government has taken steps to help raise service levels across the country, including by introducing the Bus Service Act 2025 which puts passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of local bus services by putting the power back in the hands of local leaders right across England. The Act includes a measure on socially necessary services that requires local authorities and bus operators to have to consider the alternatives to changing or cancelling these services.

The Government also reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term, confirming over £3 billion from 2026/27 over the rest of the spending review period to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers. This includes funding allocated to local authorities, which could be used to improve local bus service levels.