Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of local authorities franchising bus services on smaller bus operators.

The Bus Services Act 2017 contains a duty for local authorities to make a statement on how they will facilitate participation from small and medium sized operators in service provision as part of the franchising process.

The Department, as part of the Impact Assessment for the Bus Services (No.2) Bill, has considered the potential effects of franchising; this includes the effect on small-to-medium-sized operators.

The Department is also providing support and guidance to authorities considering franchising and we will continue working with local authorities to develop different franchising models that could be smaller scale, require less financial commitment and support participation from a range of operators.