Buses: Electric Vehicles
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are there to ensure, under the ten-year zero emission bus order pipeline, that UK based manufacturers are best placed to produce the new vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
The Government has supported the UK bus manufacturing industry through the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, which ran from March 2025 to March 2026.
Long-term funding for local transport authorities, including through the £15.6 billion Transport for City Regions funding, will enable LTAs to purchase zero emission buses (ZEBs) for their areas and support wider investment.
The zero emission bus order pipeline was published in March 2026 and provides greater planning certainty to the sector as they develop future decarbonisation strategies.
At the final meeting of the Expert Panel, Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) agreed to a minimum 10% social value weighting in future bus procurements. This will help to enable UK-based manufacturers to plan and invest with confidence, taking full advantage of the opportunities ahead.
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