21 April 2021

'Bus Back Better' National Bus Strategy for England: one-off session

Click here to watch the session

This is a one-off session on Bus Back Better: National Bus Strategy for England allowed the Transport Committee to examine how the Government plans to improve bus services over this Parliament and how it plans to spend the £3billion it has allocated to transform services over this period, whether the National Bus Strategy is a credible response to the challenges facing the bus industry now and in the future, how this strategy will be delivered on the ground, especially within local transport authorities, and what reforms are needed to deliver better bus services in England.

The Transport Committee in 2019 called for a National Bus Strategy in the final report of its inquiry on the Health of the bus market, which focused on bus services outside London. The National Bus Strategy includes many of the recommendations the previous Transport Committee called for. More recently, the Committee took evidence on the impact of COVID on the bus sector and the priorities for reform, as part of its inquiry on Reforming public transport after the pandemic. This session took place on 10 February 2021 (see below).

Witnesses

Panel One:

• Graham Vidler, Chief Executive at Confederation of Passenger Transport
• John Carr, Board Member at Association of Transport Coordinating Officers
• Mark Kemp, Director of Environment and Infrastructure at Hertfordshire County Council

Panel Two:

• The Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Minister for Roads at Department for Transport
• Stephen Fidler, Director for Local Transport at Department for Transport