Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the recruitment and retention of adequate numbers of bus drivers nationally.

My Department is working closely with industry to continuously monitor the driver shortage situation in order to better understand the extent of the problem and the challenges causing this issue. The Government is committed to encouraging new entrants to the bus driving profession and reducing barriers to entry. There is regular engagement within my Department, across Government and with industry, to proactively take measures to alleviate the situation, including ways to boost recruitment within the sector.

There are no delays for bus and HGV provisional driving licence applications, which are currently being issued in around five days – these applications are being prioritised and further work is being done to speed up processes even further.