Select committee: Transport Committee
Conclusion 13
3rd Report – Buses connecting communities
Published 13 Aug 2025
Addressed to Department for Transport
Transport Committee Buses connecting communities All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The proposed statutory duty on local transport authorities to list socially necessary services applies only to those already in operation. There is no statutory requirement in the Bus Services (No.2) Bill for authorities to assess unmet needs or identify where new services might be required, although they may do so voluntarily. This creates a risk that gaps in provision are left unaddressed, particularly in rural and under-served areas. Without clear expectations or support for service expansion, the system risks locking in existing patterns of decline. (Conclusion, Paragraph 55)
From: Transport Committee, 3rd Report – Buses connecting communities (HC 494), 13 August 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 31 October 2025 (deadline 13 October 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation, agreeing with some in principle, committing to explore or consider others, and declining others, often citing the importance of local decision-making and a challenging fiscal environment.
- On funding, the Government "agrees with the Committee in principle" on the benefits of multi-year settlements, and "commit[s] to exploring the possibility of a five-year funding settlement for bus services with HMT as part of the next Spending Review".
- On ring-fencing funding for socially necessary services, it says it "would be challenging to identify an appropriate sum of money to ringfence" and believes service-level decisions should be taken locally.
- On a free bus pass for under-22s, it "recognises the benefits" but says there is "no funding available for such a scheme" in this Spending Review period, and will use learning from other schemes to inform future Spending Reviews.
- On a framework for demand-responsive transport, it does not consider that 18 months "would be a realistic timeframe", and says the first version of its best practice guidance is expected "later this year".