Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Deferred
Current Bus Service Operators Grant disadvantages rural areas and conflicts with decarbonisation goals.
Conclusion
The current Bus Service Operators Grant structure appears to disadvantage rural and low-demand areas, where lower fuel consumption per kilometre and longer average journey lengths can reduce the level of support received. This funding model does little to reflect the operational realities of low-density networks. As the sector transitions away from fossil fuels, a grant based on fuel use risks becoming increasingly misaligned with long- term policy goals. The previous National Bus Strategy recognised this and set out an ambition to reform the Bus Service Operators Grant to better support decarbonisation goals. (Conclusion, Paragraph 39)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government did not respond to the conclusion about reforming the Bus Service Operators Grant due to its structure and misalignment with decarbonisation goals, instead discussing guidance for local authorities on socially necessary local services.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) is working to keep fares lower and service levels higher than they would otherwise be, but the Government has already taken steps to reform BSOG and will continue to do so as part of our wider work to reform bus funding. For instance, we: • have introduced an incentive for zero emission buses that allows operators to claim BSOG by providing an alternative distance-based measure to ensure BSOG remains effective; • have begun consolidating the share of BSOG that went to local authorities into the LA Bus Grant; and • set out that we will devolve a share of the national BSOG budget to LTAs that are pursuing franchising, and are working to give LTAs the power to design and pay grants to bus operators more generally. The Department agrees that growing ridership is an important overall objective and will consider carefully how BSOG could best contribute to this, as well as other objectives. However, we want to avoid situations where reform helps those who are already doing well over those who are not, for example by moving to passenger-based metrics which could incentivise services that already enjoy high farebox revenue, while reducing funding for areas with lower passenger use.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗