Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of settlements that do not have a daily bus service in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

The Department for Transport does not readily hold this information, however local bus timetable data is available to download from the Bus Open Data Service: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-and-use-bus-open-data.

The government believes that local transport authorities, working with bus operators, are best placed to determine and design local bus networks in their area. The government introduced the Bus Services (No.2) Bill on 17 December 2024 to put the power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders and is intended to ensure bus services reflect the needs of communities that rely on them, including in South Holland and the Deepings constituency and across Lincolnshire.

In addition, the government has confirmed £955 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year to support and improve bus services in England outside London. This includes £243 million for bus operators and £712 million allocated to local authorities across the country, of which Lincolnshire County Council has been allocated £11.9 million. Local authorities can use this funding to introduce improvements to bus services and infrastructure to best meet the needs of passengers in their local area.

The government has reaffirmed its commitment to bus services in this Spending Review by confirming continued funding each year from 26/27 to maintain and improve vital bus services, including taking forward bus franchising pilots, and extending the £3 bus fare cap until March 2027.