Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of bus drivers working over 50 hours a week on bus service safety.

Bus drivers are generally subject to the domestic drivers’ hours rules, which amongst other things limit daily driving time to 10 hours and require a daily rest of 10 hours (which can be reduced to 8.5 hours three times per week), and to the general working time rules. The Department reviewed the domestic drivers’ hours rules in 2010 and found no compelling case for change. The Department will continue to consider evidence related to the application of working time and drivers’ hours rules in this sector. Statistics show that on average bus drivers worked 45 hours a week in 2018, within the 48 hours limit allowed in the general working time rules.