Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to research conducted by Friends of the Earth published on 28 November 2023, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the findings on changes to bus service levels in the North East.

The Government provided over £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding from March 2020 to June 2023 to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and help protect services. Due to this funding, bus service mileage in England outside London remained at approximately 80% of pre-COVID levels in 2020/21, despite patronage dropping to 10% of pre-pandemic levels during the height of the pandemic.

To continue to support bus services in the North East, the Prime Minister announced £1 billion to deliver better services in the Midlands and North as part of Network North. Of the initial £150 million allocation, the North East will receive £11.2 million and details on future allocation will be published in due course.

In May, we announced a long-term approach to protect and improve bus services backed by an additional £300 million from July 2023 until April 2025. This funding is in addition to the £163 million the Government is providing to the North East to help local areas level up their bus services and deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plan. Local transport authorities and bus operators in the North East receive funding under the Bus Service Operator Grant to keep fares down and run services that might otherwise be unprofitable and could lead to cancellation. To support this, the Government provides up to £259 million annually for the national scheme.