Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Deferred
Move to a five-year funding settlement for bus services by end of Spending Review.
Recommendation
We welcome the Department’s intention to move towards multi-year funding for buses but believe it would be beneficial to go further. The Department should move by the end of the current Spending Review period to a five-year funding settlement for bus services, for both capital and revenue spending. 46 This will provide a stronger foundation for improving and maintaining reliable local bus networks, particularly for areas that have suffered decline over a long period. (Recommendation, Paragraph 31)
Government Response Summary
The government agrees in principle on multi-year funding and confirms existing multi-year allocations. However, it commits only to exploring a five-year settlement with HMT as part of the next Spending Review.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government agrees with the Committee in principle on the benefits of multi-year, long-term funding settlements, and recognises that annual funding restricts the ability of LTAs to make long-term funding decisions and drive value for money. It is important to note that the Department for Transport works within the constraints of overall government funding. The Spending Review set departmental budgets for day to day spending up until 2028/29, and 2029/30 on capital, and includes multi-year funding for bus to give greater certainty to local leaders. This demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to investing in bus, as well as to providing the longer-term funding allocations that LTAs have long asked for by securing funding until the end of this Parliament. The Government is also consolidating the number of different funding streams we pay to LTAs. Responding to local authority feedback, from 2026/27 we intend to simplify various funding streams to help local leaders plan and deliver their local transport priorities. This consolidated funding is an important change that will allow places to meet their local transport needs and deliver on the Government’s missions. In recognition of the benefits of providing further certainty to local authorities and the bus sector over funding arrangements, we commit to exploring the possibility of a five-year funding settlement for bus services with HMT as part of the next Spending Review.