Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that impact assessments are (a) undertaken and (b) published where bus transport providers intend to remove a bus route from their network.

The majority of bus services outside London are run on a commercial basis and decisions on routes are made and agreed between local authorities and bus operators. As part of The Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, operators are required to provide a copy of their proposed application to local authorities at least 28 days before they can submit an application to the traffic commissioner if they wish to vary or cancel a bus service. During this period, local authorities have the powers to request information from bus operators to understand the impact of the proposed changes will have and whether they want to subsidise or tender for a replacement service. Local authorities are free to publish their impact assessment of the bus service.