Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, What steps he is taking to ensure that the provisions of the National Bus Strategy benefit (a) Bosworth constituency and (b) other rural areas.

The National Bus Strategy emphasises the importance of addressing the needs of those in rural as well as urban areas, and the Government remains committed to ensuring that those in rural areas have decent transport services.

The Department has awarded Leicestershire County Council a total of £732,881 to help it develop and deliver measures to improve bus services across the county through its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and Enhanced Partnership with bus operators.

All Local Transport Authorities have also been asked, as part of the development of their BSIPs, to consider the potential role of demand-responsive transport (DRT) in improving access to bus services in rural areas. The Department is also funding 17 DRT pilot projects through the Rural Mobility Fund, worth £20 million, which will improve our understanding of the viability of this type of bookable service in rural and suburban settings. As part of this, Leicestershire County Council was awarded £1.3 million in 2021 to trial its FoxConnect DRT service.