Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her department is taking to ensure national bus operators meet their contractual obligations.

For bus services which are run under contract to local authorities, the local authority is responsible for enforcing those contracts.

Bus services which are run on a commercial basis are not subject to a contract but are subject to regulation by the Traffic Commissioner. A complaint about failure to run an advertised service in England outside London should in the first instance be made to the bus operator. If the response is unsatisfactory, Bus Users UK has a scheme to handle complaints https://bususers.org/make-a-complaint/.

Alternatively, for persistent or serious failures, passengers may complain directly to the Office of the Traffic Commissioners via their website.

In London, all complaints about buses should be made to Transport for London.