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Bus Services: North West

Answer

The Government recognises the impact that reductions to local bus services can have and knows the importance of reliable bus services in enabling people to stay connected and access education, work and vital services, particularly in rural areas where buses may be the only form of public transport.

We are committed to delivering better bus services and the Bus Services Act 2025 puts passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of local bus services by putting the power back in the hands of local leaders right across England.

The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in the Spending Review, confirming over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year, ending the short-term approach to bus funding and giving councils the certainty they need to plan ahead to improve services for local communities, including in rural areas. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Cheshire West and Chester Council will be allocated £64.3 million and £17.6 million of this funding respectively from 2026/27 to 2028/29.

The formula used to calculate LABG allocations for 2026/27 onwards includes consideration of the rurality of local areas for the first time, acknowledging the challenges of running services in rural areas, in addition to population size, levels of deprivation, and the extent of existing bus services. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, this could include expanding current bus provision.

Information on local bus service registrations and cancellations is held by the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain. The closest measure the Department holds relating to local bus service provision is local bus vehicle miles operated.

The Department publishes annual National Statistics on local bus vehicle miles operated in England in the Annual Bus Statistics release. The latest statistics for the North West of England are provided in the table below.

Year	Local bus vehicle miles operated (millions)
2021	113.88
2022	128.49
2023	118.64
2024	118.88
2025	121.25

Statistics are available in table BUS02d of the Department's Annual Bus Statistics publication on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus-statistics-data-tables#local-bus-vehicle-distance-travelled-bus02.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

15135

Session

2026-27

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Bus services North West

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk