Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Accepted
Department's evaluation programme lacks outcomes focus, providing poorly defined and unhelpful data.
Recommendation
The Department’s evaluation programme is focused on specific funding streams, rather than on the outcomes it wants to achieve. Its most recent attempt to collect data to understand the impact of its funding interventions was poorly defined and did not provide useful information.34 We asked the Department whether its grants had resulted in improvements to bus services.35 The Department told us it intends to use an outcomes framework to specify metrics for each local authority, which it will pilot later this year. It told us this includes a basket of indicators including passenger satisfaction, punctuality, reliability, safety and accessibility.36 It hopes this will provide a better understanding of bus service performance and provide a guide as to whether to intervene, but it does not yet know how or when it would step in.37 28 Qq 5-6, 28-29 29 Q 34 30 Qq 39-41 31 Qq 17, 49 32 Q 5; C&AG’s report, paras 2.18-2.19 33 Q 49 34 C&AG’s report, paras 2.18-2.19 35 Q 25 36 Qq 8, 49 37 C&AG’s report, para 2.21 12 2 Supporting local transport authorities to deliver better bus services Choosing the right delivery model
Government Response Summary
The department already has a Monitoring and Evaluating (M&E) programme in place for buses and is reviewing and further developing the programme following the Bus Services Act 2025 and wider departmental changes.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3b. PAC recommendation: The department should develop a monitoring and evaluation plan for its portfolio of bus improvement interventions. 3.5 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: October 2026 3.6 The department already has a Monitoring and Evaluating (M&E) programme in place for buses, with evaluations of Bus Service Improvement Plans, Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA), the Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) and £3 National Bus Fare Cap completing in 2026, and a ZEBRA round 2 evaluation completing in 2027. 3.7 This programme is being reviewed and further developed following the Bus Services Act 2025 and wider departmental changes. The updated programme will be informed by a systematic review of the department’s current evidence gaps to target evaluation activity where it can add the most value. 3.8 The updated M&E plan will provide evidence across the department’s portfolio of initiatives relating for example to fares, franchising, accessibility and access to information. Planned evaluations include the franchising and bus reform pilot programme launched in October 2025, an evaluation of the ending of the sale of non-zero emission buses (commencing 2027) and mandatory training on anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls. 3.9 Future monitoring and evaluation approaches will make use of the outcomes framework indicators and planned changes in bus data collection to improve the department’s access to data at local transport authority and regional levels and to provide more timely insights. Alongside targeted engagement with local transport authorities this will improve the department’s ability to monitor the rollout of new initiatives. 3.10 To strengthen s approach to identifying and sharing best practice, the department is developing an enhanced role for Transport Focus to monitor bus service performance and outcomes across England using a consistent outcomes framework. This will enable systematic identification of high-performing services and effective practices. Transport Focus will work closely with the Bus Centre of Excellence to ensure these insights inform capability-building activities, training content, and peer learning networks, creating a continuous improvement cycle that helps local transport authorities learn from success and make tangible improvements for bus passengers.