Home / Sources / Select Committees / Public Accounts Committee / Local bus services in England
Index live · Last sync 22 May 2026
Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Local bus services in England

Status: Open Opened: 6 May 2025 16 recommendations 13 conclusions 1 report

Local bus services are the most used form of public transport. The Department for Transport published its national bus strategy for England, Bus Back Better , in 2021. Government strategy has sought to make buses more frequent, reliable, better coordinated and cheaper, alongside supporting post-pandemic recovery. While bus services are mostly run on a commercial …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
50th Report - Local bus services in England HC 892 29 Oct 2025 29 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items
17 Conclusion 50th Report - Local bus services in Eng… Not Addressed

Bus franchising requires significant time and cost, considerably exceeding Departmental estimates.

The Department of Transport is encouraging more local transport authorities to consider franchising their bus services. Franchising, whereby local transport authorities take on more responsibility for bus services and award contracts to private operators, gives local transport authorities more control over bus services, for example, to decide routes and fares. …

Government response. This item is a conclusion but the response addresses the recommendation 4, as the conclusion is linked to the recommendation. The Department is committed to supporting local transport authorities to deliver better bus services and share learnings, including through the …
HM Treasury
19 Conclusion 50th Report - Local bus services in Eng… Not Addressed

Local transport authorities lack capacity and capability for bus franchising models.

We asked the Department whether local transport authorities had sufficient information to know what the right delivery model is for their local area.42 The Department said its role is to help local authorities understand the options and acknowledged that many local areas do not currently have the capacity and capability …

Government response. This item is a conclusion but the response addresses the recommendation 4, as the conclusion is linked to the recommendation. The Department is committed to supporting local transport authorities to deliver better bus services and share learnings, including through the …
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
17 Jul 2025 Conrad Bailey · Department for Transport, Jo Shanmugalingam · Department for Transport, Stephen Fidler · Department for Transport View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters
DateDirectionTitle
14 May 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport relating to…
4 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport relating to…