Many hollowed-out local authorities currently lack the legal, commercial and operational capacity to take on the risks and challenges of franchising, according to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee.

The Government body issued a report, ‘Buses connecting communities’, calling on the Government to reform the way local bus services are funded and to adopt a national ambition for a minimum level of public transport connectivity. This, it says, would protect residents in England’s towns and villages from becoming increasingly isolated, MPs say.

Youth concessions should have a consistent national approach, according to the report, airing the idea of a free bus pass for under-22s.

Fare cap lacks strategy

According to the Committee, the bus fare cap lacks a strategy. It says the DfT should develop, in partnership with local transport authorities and within 12 months, clear strategic priorities for what bus fares are aiming to achieve.

The Transport Select Committee suggests safeguarding ‘socially necessary’ routes. It recommends that ministers ensure this by ringfencing a portion of the funding it gives locally so that there is a practical requirement to protect those socially necessary routes.

The Committee suggests DfT should adopt a national ambition for councils to provide a minimum level of public transport connectivity by the end of this Parliament (2028-29). The Committee is calling for this minimum level to be considered regionally as well as being supported by long-term government funding. It says decisions should be made locally about whether this minimum level of connectivity can best be delivered by a conventional, timetabled bus service, or instead by alternative models such as demand-responsive transport (DRT).

Five-year settlement plan

The Committee recommends the Government sets out a five-year settlement for both capital and revenue funding. This would enable all transport authorities to make sustainable improvements.

DfT should consider introducing a rural weighting into its revised Bus Service Improvement Plan funding formula to reflect the higher per-passenger costs, the report says. The Bus Service Operators Grant provides funds based on how much fuel is used. The report highlights that as urban services tend to consume more fuel per mile compared with rural services, this leaves rural services in receipt of relatively less funding for having to travel longer distances.

‘Go further to get bums back on seats’ – Chair

Transport Committee Chair, Ruth Cadbury MP, said: “Buses are fundamental to many people’s quality of life. Without them, residents on low incomes, older and younger people, face social exclusion or being cut off from employment and services like hospitals or education. In many areas that is tragically already the case.

“The DfT should change the way funding is provided to ensure councils and bus firms would be committed to running socially necessary services, and, on that basis, should also adopt an ambition for all councils to develop and maintain a minimum level of public transport connectivity. To achieve this the sector will need greater financial certainty, which is why we say the Government should announce funding in five-year blocks.

“Those most affected by unreliable or even non-existent buses include the young, who need them to get to school, college, university and their first jobs. Denying young people these experiences denies them their life chances. We call for a universal, free bus pass for all under-22s to equalise opportunity.

“While the bus fare caps have been beneficial, the Government has yet to spell out a coherent strategy of what they aim to achieve, and whether more targeted options could produce better outcomes.

“Franchising works for London and Manchester but is unlikely to be a silver bullet for the rest of the country. Many local councils’ workforces now lack the skills and capacity to suddenly start overseeing bus services. We therefore say that the Bus Centre of Excellence should be expanded to provide more targeted support and training.

“While the Government’s Bus Services Bill contains positive ideas, the Transport Committee’s report says ministers should go further to get bums back on seats.”