Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish guidance for bus operators relating to disability equality training.

Later in the year, the Department plans to publish best practice guidance on the provision of disability awareness training in the bus sector, which was informed by the experience of disabled passengers, bus operators and training providers. We hope that by sharing across the whole bus industry some of the good practice already benefiting passengers in many areas of the country, we will ensure that disabled passengers can board any service with confidence that the driver will provide them with the help they need.

The Department publishes annual bus statistics which include an assessment of the proportion of local bus operators which require their staff to complete training consistent with the European Regulation. The most recent release indicated that 98% of drivers work for companies which fulfil this requirement