Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the report by Professor Philip Alston entitled Public transport, private profit: the human cost of privatizing buses in the United Kingdom, published on 19 July 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in that report that the Government’s National Bus Strategy amounts to a series of half measures that do not address the structural problems of the ongoing bus crisis or guarantee quality service.

Our National Bus Strategy, backed by £3 billion of investment, is the biggest reform and support package for buses in generations. It will deliver better bus services for passengers across England, through ambitious and far-reaching reform of how services are planned and delivered. Enhanced Partnerships and franchising arrangements will bring together the important skillsets and contributions of local transport authorities and bus operators, critical to a strong bus network. All local transport authorities have confirmed, as the strategy asked, that they are developing one or both of those approaches. Bus Service Improvement Plans for all areas, which will influence the share of the £3 billion which authorities receive, are being developed for the 31 October deadline.