My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, for introducing her amendment. I am happy to say that the sentiment behind it is one with which we agree. What is more, the kind of powers that the noble Baroness is seeking already exist.
All local authorities are required to improve their local bus services through the delivery of a bus service improvement plan, BSIP, to qualify for government funding. Local authorities must decide whether to deliver improvements on the ground via a statutory enhanced partnership with their local bus operators or to pursue a franchising assessment that would allow them to operate their buses through local service contracts, in the same way that Transport for London operates buses in the capital. The Transport Act 2000, brought in by the last Labour Government, provides automatic access to franchising powers for all mayoral combined authorities in England.
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Other types of local authority can also request access to franchising powers. They will need to satisfy the Secretary of State that they have the capability and resources to do so and that it will better deliver service improvements for passengers than an enhanced partnership. No local authority has yet requested these powers or, indeed, made any inquiries about accessing or using them.
Department for Transport guidance on BSIPs is clear that local authorities must develop them in collaboration with operators and other stakeholders, including bus users. The legislation on enhanced partnerships also requires a separate consultation exercise. For those authorities developing franchising assessments, the 2000 Act requires them to carry out a consultation with key stakeholders, including organisations representing local passengers.
We recognise that there are challenges facing the bus sector, and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are still being felt. I do not want to attribute all ills to the pandemic, but there is no doubt that it has had a fundamental impact on travel patterns, which has resulted in lower levels of patronage than before the pandemic. We have announced a long-term approach to support and improve bus services and an additional £300 million to support services from July 2023 until April 2025, with £150 million provided between July this year and April 2024 and £150 million between April 2024 and April 2025. The funding will be delivered through the creation of two new funding streams: £160 million will be provided to LTAs through a BSIP-plus mechanism, and a further £140 million will be provided to operators through a bus service operators grant mechanism. This funding will help to protect vital bus routes and ensure that passengers who rely on these services every day can continue to get to work and education and access local services such as healthcare.
I hope that this information is helpful, but I would be more than happy to arrange a meeting between the noble Baroness and officials if she would like further clarification of the arrangements that local authorities are able to avail themselves of in this area.