Bus Services and Fuels: Finance
Question
Simon Lightwood
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department provided to (a) bus operators and (b) local authorities for fuel costs in each of the last three years for which data is available.
Answer
Mr Richard HoldenThe Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG) given to commercial operators is to help them keep fares lower and enable services which may be unprofitable to continue running. The funding that operators receive is calculated based on fuel consumption and allows them to partially offset some of their operational costs, which may include fuel costs. Since 2010, over £200 million has been made available to commercial operators annually.
BSOG funding given to local authorities is used to support bus services, including through subsidy for socially necessary bus routes; this is not related to fuel costs. Since 2013, over £42 million has been provided to local authorities annually.