Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Deferred
Require ring-fenced funding and minimum operator provision for socially necessary bus services.
Conclusion
The Department should ensure that there is funding to support the provision of socially necessary services by ring-fencing a dedicated portion of its bus grant funding or by other means. This will help ensure that the duty to identify such services has practical effect and is not undermined by competing local priorities or budgetary pressures. In addition, operators working within Enhanced Partnerships should be required to commit to a minimum level of provision on routes designated as socially necessary. (Recommendation, Paragraph 49)
Government Response Summary
The government did not address the recommendation for ring-fenced funding for socially necessary services or operator commitments to minimum provision. Instead, it discussed the Integrated National Transport Strategy and efforts to improve timetable coordination across transport modes.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The Government will set its long-term vision for transport in England through the Integrated National Transport Strategy (INTS), putting people and the journeys they make at the heart of how we plan, build and operate transport. Throughout our engagement to inform the Strategy, we heard from stakeholders and members of the public that they want improved timetabling to help enhance their overall journey experience and to better integrate different modes of transport, and this is an area the Department has been exploring as the Strategy develops. In response to these views, we have been considering how the INTS could set clearer direction on improving timetable coordination across modes to support local authorities and transport providers. Work to date has suggested that co-ordinating timetables can be challenging to achieve in practice with one bus or rail service often connecting with multiple others, but there are potential opportunities to use data and AI to optimise integration for passengers. The Government’s reforms to improve bus services can also help to deliver greater integration with other transport modes. For example, under bus franchising arrangements the local authority can take control of the bus network including setting routes, timetables and fares. The Department for Transport’s updated guidance to local authorities on franchising also makes clear that the franchising assessment should consider how bus services will be integrated with other modes and timetables coordinated where appropriate, and whether the franchise will also cover other modes such as light rail or cycle hire. EPs can also be used to better integrate bus timetables with other modes such as rail, as set out in our EPs guidance.