Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to strengthen guidance to help ensure bus lanes operate only (a) when buses are running and (b) when traffic is heavy enough to cause delay to buses.

It is for local authorities to decide whether bus lanes are appropriate on their network, and to set the times of operation. The Department published Local Transport Note 1/24: Bus User Priority in March 2024 which includes advice on all aspects of bus priority including the design of bus lanes and their times of operation. LTN 1/24 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bus-user-priority-ltn-124.