Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle high levels of bus and coach driver vacancies in England.

Whilst it is the responsibility of the sector to recruit and retain drivers, the Department for Transport regularly engages with industry to understand issues in recruiting and retaining bus and coach drivers, and how Government can help. Latest intelligence from the sector suggests that the shortage has reduced over the course of this year.

The Department for Transport and Confederation of Passenger Transport co-chaired a Bus and Coach Summit in November 2022. The summit brought together experts from industry, national and local government to look at issues facing driver recruitment and retention to bus and coach operators, and identified ideas and actions to help address these. Many of these are owned by industry, who as aforementioned, are responsible for recruiting drivers.

We are also ensuring there is sufficient access to Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) practical driving tests, whether through the bus and coach industry’s network of delegated examiners, or directly through Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency test centres.