A new report published today (13 August) by the Transport Committee has called on the Government to reform the funding process for local bus services and adopt an ambition for a minimum level of public transport connectivity across the UK.
MPs have said that the move would protect those living in England’s towns and villages from becoming isolated, with the last decade seeing the cutting of a number of key services across the country.
The report tackles a number of issues plaguing local bus services, offering recommendations on how to better the state of the sector.
Topics addressed in the report include the real-world consequences of bus decline, the safeguarding of ‘socially necessary’ routes, minimum levels of connectivity, the lifeline provided to young people by local bus services, a lack of coherent strategy related to the bus fare cap, the issues with franchising, and the weighing of grants toward rural areas.
Data from the Department for Transport (DfT) shows that the bus journeys taken outside of London has fallen from 4.6 billion in 2009 to 3.6 billion in 2024, an overall reduction of 21.7%.
A report from the County Councils Network also stated that bus services have decreased by an average of 18% in areas covered by county and unitary councils between 2019 and 2024, with CPRE informing the Committee that 56% of small towns now exist in a ‘transport desert’.
The Health Foundation has claimed that public funding for bus services fell for a decade from 2009/2010, a trend halted only by the Covid dynamic seeing a near doubling of funding to keep them in operation. In 2023/24, the public subsidy then reverted to levels seen in 2017/18.
Despite the lack of funding, buses remain the most-used public transport method across the UK, with the Government now looking to enable the franchising of services through the Bus (No.2) Services Bill.
Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury MP said:Buses are fundamental to many people’s quality of life. Without them, residents on low incomes, older and younger people, face social exclusion or being cut off from employment and services like hospitals or education. In many areas that is tragically already the case.
The DfT should change the way funding is provided to ensure councils and bus firms would be committed to running socially necessary services, and, on that basis, should also adopt an ambition for all councils to develop and maintain a minimum level of public transport connectivity. To achieve this the sector will need greater financial certainty, which is why we say the Government should announce funding in five-year blocks.
Those most affected by unreliable or even non-existent buses include the young, who need them to get to school, college, university and their first jobs. Denying young people these experiences denies them their life chances. We call for a universal, free bus pass for all under-22s to equalise opportunity.
While the bus fare caps have been beneficial, the Government has yet to spell out a coherent strategy of what they aim to achieve, and whether more targeted options could produce better outcomes.
Franchising works for London and Manchester but is unlikely to be a silver bullet for the rest of the country. Many local councils’ workforces now lack the skills and capacity to suddenly start overseeing bus services. We therefore say that the Bus Centre of Excellence should be expanded to provide more targeted support and training.
While the Government’s Bus Services Bill contains positive ideas, the Transport Committee’s report says ministers should go further to get bums back on seats.
