Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment with the the Minister for the Cabinet Office of the potential impact of providing public subsidies to non-UK bus manufacturers on national security.

The Government is supporting the transition to zero emission buses, which will decarbonise the fleet while improving passenger journeys. We provide funding to local transport authorities; local leaders can use this funding to invest in local priorities, including the purchase of new zero emission buses.

The Department for Transport last year convened the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, which brought together government, local transport authorities, bus operators and manufacturers to consider the sustainability of the UK bus manufacturing sector.

The Government takes national security seriously. All buses deployed on roads in GB must be approved to robust standards. We recently introduced two SIs to strengthen cyber protection (UN R155) and regulate software updates (UN R156) within the approval framework.