Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve (a) connectivity and (b) reliability in bus services in (i) York and (ii) North Yorkshire.

The Government recognises the importance of local bus services to ensuring communities can stay connected and has announced over £4.5 billion to support and improve bus services since 2020. This includes over £2 billion to help local authorities deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans, of which City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council have been allocated over £18.5 million and £6.4 million respectively between 2022/23 and 2024/25.

The Government also makes over £200 million available to bus operators every year through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to help them maintain their network. A further £42 million in BSOG funding is provided directly to local authorities to help subsidise socially necessary bus services that might otherwise be commercially unviable. City of York Council receives £150,416 and North Yorkshire County Council receives over £1 million of this funding every year. City of York have also been allocated a total of £10.3 million through the ZEBRA 1 scheme and North Yorkshire were awarded £7.8 million.