Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to extend eligibility for free bus travel to combat air pollution.

Around £1 billion a year is spent on concessionary travel in England and any extensions to the scope of the statutory scheme would further increase costs. Local authorities do already however have the power to offer discretionary travel concessions over and above the statutory minimum national concession, and since 2010/11 almost all of the 89 travel concession authorities outside London have offered discretionary travel concessions.

The Government recognises the importance of buses to improving air quality, with one bus taking up to 75 cars off the road meaning that buses take millions of car journeys off UK roads every year, reducing greenhouse gases and congestion.

To help enhance the attractiveness of travelling by bus, we have just announced that all operators of local bus services across England will be required from 2020 to provide high quality, accurate and open data, including on routes and timetables, fares and tickets and location data, which will enable passengers to more easily plan journeys, find best value tickets and receive service updates.

In addition, the Government is keen to support the uptake of zero emission buses, and recently announced the winners of the Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme which will fund 263 zero emission buses and supporting infrastructure.