The National Bus Strategy - Bus Back Better
In March 2021, the government announced the new National Bus Strategy – Bus Back Better – with the overall aim of transforming local bus services and increasing bus patronage. Under this new strategy the expectation was that Local Transport Authorities would enter Enhanced Partnership Agreements with local bus operators across the Local Transport Authority, to develop and deliver improvements across local bus services and enhance the experience for passengers.
Somerset Council Executive agreed at its Cabinet meeting on 21 June 2021 to the proposal to proceed with the development of an Enhanced Partnership.
Statutory Notice of Intent to Prepare an Enhanced Partnership Plan and Schemes
Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP)
Somerset created a Bus Service Improvement Plan in partnership with local bus operators in 2021. This led to the award of approximately £11.9 million grant funding, which was allocated as follows summary of the revised proposals 2022/23 to 2024/25.
The Bus Service Improvement Plan was reviewed in 2024, showcasing achievements to date and ambition for public transport for 2025 and beyond. This was not a bidding document.
Towards the end of 2024, the government announced a new funding formula for allocating Bus Service Improvement Plan grant to Local Transport Authorities and Somerset was awarded approximately £6.3 million for the 2025/26 financial year. The Bus Service Improvement Plan 2025/26 Delivery Plan shows the schemes that this new funding and previous BSIP funding will be supporting.
Enhanced Partnership
An Enhanced Partnership, which includes a Plan and a Scheme, was created in March 2022 to provide a robust framework in which to deliver the Bus Service Improvement Plan in accordance with requirements set out by the Department for Transport and in line with the Transport Act 2000 and any subsequent amendments.
We consulted operators. All qualifying local bus service operators had the right to object to the Plan and the Scheme being proposed. The objection period ran from Monday 29 November 2021 until Tuesday 4 January 2022, during which time no formal objections were received.
We also consulted statutory stakeholders – statutory stakeholders are described in Sections 5.1 to 5.5 of the Bus Services Act 2017 Enhanced Partnerships Guidance. The formal stakeholder engagement period ran from Monday 10 January 2022 until Tuesday 8 February 2022. Feedback was largely positive, with no issues arising to prevent the process continuing.
The initial Plan and Scheme was set out as a shell agreement as funding had not been confirmed at that stage. It has since been through several variations as set out in the summary which follows below:
Reason of variation and changes summary
- Variation number 1 on 13 October 2022 – to reflect Bus Service Improvement Plan funding allocation confirmed August 2022
- Variation number 2 on 2 December 2022 – to reflect feedback from the Department for Transport in November 2022
- Variation number 3 on 17 January 2023 – to reflect comments from the Department for Transport, required by 31 January 2023, to release year 2 Bus Service Improvement Plan funding
- Variation number 4 on 6 February 2024 – to meet requirements set by the Department for Transport to release year 3 Bus Service Improvement Plan Funding – Annex D added. Reference to Somerset County Council updated to Somerset Council in the Scheme section.
The latest version of the Enhanced Partnership was formally made on 6 February 2024, using the bespoke variation mechanism, set out in the Scheme.
You can read the full Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme