Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on funding orders for hydrogen-fuelled buses.

The Department remains committed to supporting the roll out of zero emission buses (ZEBs) and is providing over £525m funding over this parliament.

The Government’s approach to the delivery of the ZEBs will be technology neutral. The £270m Zero Emission Bus Regional Area scheme is due to announce winners from the standard process in Spring 2022, having announced winners from the fast track process in October 2021. Local areas were able to apply for funding for both battery electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses depending on which technology is best suited to their local areas.

The Government has supported the introduction of hydrogen buses through the previous Low and Ultra Low Emission Bus funding schemes. Through these schemes, Government provided over £4.8m to a joint bid between Birmingham City Council and Transport for London for 40 hydrogen double decker buses. In addition, Government provided over £4.3m to Brighton and Hove Buses for a further 20 hydrogen buses.

Funding from other funding schemes, such as the Transforming Cities Fund and City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, can also be used by local areas to support the introduction of ZEBs. 20 hydrogen buses are being supported in the Liverpool City Region through funding from the Transforming Cities Fund.

The Government will also increase the rate at which the Bus Service Operators Grant can be claimed for ZEBs to 22p per km, further incentivising and supporting the uptake of battery electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses.