Third Special Report: Buses connecting communities: Government Response

This is the government's response, published 31 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".

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