November 2025
Bus Services (No. 2) Act – Briefing for Branches Background
The bus sector in England (outside London) was deregulated and privatised in the 1980s by the Transport Act 1985. This left Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) beholden to the commercial interests of private bus operators that are free to ‘cherry pick’ whichever services they want to run for a profit. As a result, bus services are often unreliable and expensive, there have been significant cuts to services, with local authorities left to subsidise any routes deemed non-profitable by operators. There were 482 million, or 29%, fewer bus services kilometres operated in England (outside London) in 2024 compared to 2005, and during that period, the number of bus workers reduced by nearly 20,000 (24%). Labour analysis shows that between 2010 and 2023 there was a loss of more than 5000 bus routes. It has been estimated that in a decade nearly £3bn in dividends was paid out by the private bus operators in shareholder dividends, but, perversely, the only way that the bus companies are able to maintain this level of profitability is because they are so heavily subsidised by local and national government. In the decade prior to Covid, the bus operators in England (outside London) received, on average, more than £1.3bn in net public support annually. At the same time, local authorities have been banned from setting up a new municipal bus company to directly deliver their bus services.
Bus Services (No2) Act
The Labour Party had a manifesto commitment to introduce bus reform legislation, and in Autumn 2024 it tabled the Bus Services (No2) Bill, which received Royal Assent in October 2025. The main changes introduced by the Bill include making it easier for Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to franchise and the reversal of the ban on new municipal bus companies. Since the Bill was introduced, the Union has been having regular meetings with DfT civil servants and the General Secretary has met with the Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood on a number of occasions. RMT amendments The Union had previously been successful in securing amendments to the 2017 Bus Act