Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of introducing free weekend bus schemes akin to those being trialled by the Welsh Government and TrawsCymru in Wales.

There are no plans to introduce a blanket concession on cross-country bus travel in England, where the bus market (outside London) is deregulated. Decisions regarding service provision are primarily a commercial matter for bus and coach operators, many of whom already offer generous discounts on longer or inter-city journeys.

Long-distance services are specifically excluded from the current English national concession which focusses on providing free off-peak local bus travel to eligible older and disabled people, helping them to remain active and independent in the community.