Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [HL] 2024–25

The Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [HL] (Bill 72 of 2024–25) will have its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday 2 June 2025. It had its first reading in the Commons on 30 April.

The bill started in the House of Lords, where it was introduced on 17 December 2024. It had its Lords second reading on 8 January 2025; committee stage on 28 January, 11 February, and 13 February; report stage on 26 March and 2 April; and third reading on 29 April 2025.

The bill, together with its explanatory notes and other documents, is available on the parliament.uk bill page: Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [HL].

Territorial extent and application

The majority of the bill extends to England and Wales, but will have practical application in England only. The exceptions to this are:

• safeguarding duties on school bus services, anti-social behaviour training for bus staff and the purpose of the bill (which all apply to England and Wales)
• measures on bus staff disability training, and the collation of bus statistics (which both apply to England, Wales and Scotland)

Local bus services are a devolved issue. The government has said that two bill clauses may affect this devolved issue and therefore require legislative consent from the Senedd. The government has also said it will consider options to “ensure that constitutional requirements for consent are met” during the bill’s Commons stages.

Aims of the bill

The bill intends to implement Labour manifesto pledges to remove the ban on local authority-owned bus companies ownership, and to expand local authority powers to franchise local bus services.

Making franchising easier

Bus franchising essentially means that a local authority specifies the bus routes, frequencies and fares it wants, through contracts with operators. It is the model that has been used on Transport for London (TfL) buses for decades and has been recently introduced on Manchester’s new Bee Network buses too. The government has said the bill will allow more parts of England to “emulate the huge success of publicly controlled buses in Greater Manchester and London”. The bill would remove some of the central government permissions currently required to initiate a franchising scheme.

Franchising is an unfamiliar model to most local authorities. It can take many years to set up, and carries financial and operational risks.

Improving enhanced partnerships and protecting services

Franchising has long been the exception to the rule. Since the bus industry was deregulated in the 1980s, most bus services have been run on a commercial basis by private bus operators who determine routes, timetables and fares. Since the Conservative government’s 2021 National Bus Strategy, bus operators in England have been required to enter enhanced partnerships (EPs) with local transport authorities (LTAs). EPs give LTAs some influence over bus service provision, but less than they would get under franchising. EPs are currently the ‘default’ model for bus provision in England.

The bill contains several technical provisions intended to strengthen EPs. These include a clause that provides a definition of “socially necessary bus services”. The clause contains a requirement for EPs to list all such “socially necessary” services, and a requirement for EPs to specify measures that would apply if an operator proposed cancelling or drastically changing such a service.

Introducing mandatory bus staff training and byelaw-making powers

The bill would require mandatory training for bus staff to help them assist disabled passengers, and to deal with onboard crime and anti-social behaviour. The bill would also give TfL, and other local transport authorities in England, the power to introduce byelaws to deal with fare evasion and onboard anti-social behaviour, and the power to issue penalty charge notices to enforce such powers.

Mandating zero-emission buses

The bill would require bus operators in England to stop registering new non-zero-emission buses after a specified date to be confirmed by regulations. This date could not be earlier than 1 January 2030.

Introducing guidance on accessibility of bus stopping places

The bill would allow the government to publish guidance on the accessibility of “stopping places”, meaning bus stops, bus stations and bus shelters.

Consideration in the Lords

Second Reading

At second reading on 8 January 2025, the Liberal Democrats’ Lords transport spokesperson, Baroness Pidgeon, said the Liberal Democrats welcomed the bill. However, she said the bill did not address the importance of keeping fares low. The Conservatives’ Lords transport spokesperson, Lord Moylan, said the bill was “ideologically driven, backward-looking, bureaucratic and expensive” and that “for our part on these Benches [we] shall do our best to improve it.”

Committee stage

The bill was considered in Grand Committee on three dates: 28 January 2025, 11 February 2025 and 13 February 2025. The government made seven technical amendments to the bill at committee stage.

Report stage

Report stage took place on 26 March 2025 and 2 April 2025. 42 amendments to the bill were successfully made. Of these, 30 were government amendments, and six were tabled by Lord Blunkett (Lab), which the government supported.

Lord Blunkett’s amendments would require the government to introduce guidance on ‘floating bus stops’, where a cycle track goes behind a bus stop, or between a bus stop and the kerbside. These have been controversial, especially among bus passengers with reduced eyesight.

Six other successful amendments followed divisions, where the government was defeated:

• three by Lord Moylan (Con), one which inserted a ‘purpose’ clause into the bill; one which would require an assessment of the increase in the bus fare cap from £2 to £3; and one which would require an assessment of the effect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions on bus operators
• one by Lord Woodley (Lab), which would require bus operators to record and share data on assaults and violent behaviour
• one by Lord Hampton (crossbench), which would require the Secretary of State to implement a ‘Vision Zero’ death/injury reduction goal for the bus sector
• one by Baroness Jones (Green), which would require a review of the level of bus services being provided to villages in England

Lord Hendy, Minister of State at the Department for Transport, said the bill was likely to return to the Lords after its Commons stages, suggesting the government may seek to remove the opposition amendments in the Commons.