Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the trend in the level of bus driver vacancies.

The most recent Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) estimate is that almost 1 in 10 bus driver positions in the UK were vacant in September 2022. Findings from CPT’s most recent driver shortage run in February are expected to be known shortly.

In November 2022, the Department and CPT co-chaired a Bus and Coach Driver Summit to understand and address the issues causing driver shortages. Following the Bus and Coach Driver Summit, the Department has been working with CPT to take forward the actions identified at the summit.