There are growing concerns within the bus industry that promised support embodied in the previous Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ‘Bus Back Better’ policy package is now at risk as the new Truss government grapples with its precarious financial plans. It is feared that even the minority of English authorities which were awarded funding for their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) may be denied some or possibly all of the money, following the change of leadership in Downing Street.

A well-informed industry source told LTT that none of the BSIP money had yet been paid, and the DfT appeared to be resorting to micro-managing BSIPs as a delaying tactic. “They’re stringing local authorities along and messing them about, asking for detail changes – rewriting a paragraph here or there.