Select committee: Transport Committee
Conclusion 14
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 Department should make clear that local transport authorities operating within Enhanced Partnerships should not only maintain existing socially necessary services but should also be expected to identify and address areas of unmet need and potential for new services. The Department’s vision should be for local authorities to preside over a renaissance in bus services, rather than simply hold the line against continued deterioration. Authorities should be supported to actively grow the local bus network in response to demographic and economic changes, not just manage its decline. (Recommendation, Paragraph 56) 48
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".