Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the No10 press release entitled Prime Minister supports West Midlands to take public control of local bus network, published on 18 August 2026, from which budget and department is the £11.5m of new government funding coming from; whether this is (a) additional spending or (b) from an existing budget; and whether it will be part of integrated settlement funding.

Funding will be provided from within existing Department for Transport allocations over a 3-year period, with precise allocations depending on where potential efficiencies and savings are identified. A final decision has not yet been taken on whether this funding will be incorporated into the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Integrated Settlement.