Legislation – Bus Services (Wales) Act 2026

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Introduction

PART 1
KEY CONCEPTS AND GENERAL OBJECTIVES

1 Meaning of “local bus service”

2 Meaning of “embarkation point” and “disembarkation point”

3 Meaning of “flexible local bus service” and “standard local bus service”

4 Welsh Ministers’ duty to have regard to objectives

PART 2
FUNCTIONS OF THE WELSH MINISTERS RELATING TO LOCAL BUS SERVICES

5 Local bus services: core duties

6 Preparation of Welsh Bus Network Plan

7 Review and revision of Welsh Bus Network Plan

8 Further provision about revisions to the Welsh Bus Network Plan

9 Revision of Welsh Bus Network Plan: local authority duties

10 Local bus service contracts

11 Power to make supplementary provision about local bus service contracts

12 Local bus service permits

13 Period for which local bus service permit has effect

14 Conditions attached to local bus service permits

15 Applications for local bus service permits

16 Revocation and suspension of local bus service permits

17 Local bus service permits: appeals

18 Provision of local bus services by the Welsh Ministers

19 Reliance on community bus services and certain other services for the purposes of the section 5(1)(c) duty

20 Cross-border services and the duty to secure the provision of services

21 Report on progress towards section 4 objectives

22 Notification to be given to traffic commissioner of certain matters relating to local bus service contracts and permits

PART 3
RESTRICTION ON PROVIDING LOCAL BUS SERVICES

23 Restriction on providing local bus services

24 Duty on Welsh Ministers to inform traffic commissioner of any breach of the restriction

25 Enforcement of the restriction

26 Enforcement of restriction: appeals

PART 4
INFORMATION AND DATA

27 Provision of information to the Welsh Ministers by current and former operators for the purposes of functions under Part 2 or 3

28 Provision of information about infrastructure and certain other matters to the Welsh Ministers by local authorities and community councils for the purposes of functions under Part 2

29 Duty to secure that information is made available to the public

30 Provision of information to the Welsh Ministers for the purposes of section 29

31 Provision of information: exclusion on grounds of legal privilege

32 Enforcement of information requirements

33 Enforcement of information requirements: appeals

PART 5
LOCAL AUTHORITY POWERS AND DUTIES

34 Provision of bus services by local authorities: removal of restriction

35 Removal of duty to secure local bus services

36 Financial assistance in connection with local bus services

PART 6
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL

37 Application of TUPE

38 Transport Act 1985: removal of requirements relating to registration

39 Transport Act 1985: existing registration etc. ceasing to have effect

40 Restriction on the power to secure the provision of public passenger transport services under section 7 of the Transport (Wales) Act 2006

41 Transport Act 2000: removal of certain local authority schemes

42 Regulations under this Act

43 Giving notices etc.

44 General interpretation

45 Index of defined terms

46 Power to make consequential, transitional etc. provision

47 Minor and consequential amendments

48 Coming into force

49 Short title

SCHEDULES

SCHEDULE MINOR AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS ETC.

Changes to legislation:

There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Bus Services (Wales) Act 2026, Section 14. Help about Changes to Legislation

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PART 2FUNCTIONS OF THE WELSH MINISTERS RELATING TO LOCAL BUS SERVICES

Local bus service permits

14Conditions attached to local bus service permits

(1)

In the case of a local bus service permit granted to a person within section 12(4)(a) in respect of a service that is a community bus service, the Welsh Ministers must attach a condition to the permit requiring that—

(a)

the service in question is provided as a community bus service, and

(b)

each vehicle used in providing the service is so used under and in accordance with the terms of‍ a community bus permit.

(2)

Regulations may make provision about further conditions that must be attached to a local bus service permit.

(3)

That provision may relate to any of the following matters (among others)—

(a)

punctuality, reliability and safety;

(b)

frequency and timing;

(c)

routes and areas of operation;

(d)

arrangements for determining when passengers are taken up or set down;

(e)

embarkation points and disembarkation points;

(f)

booking journeys;

(g)

record keeping;

(h)

vehicles (including facilities to be made available and information to be displayed on vehicles), vehicle emissions, and types of fuel or power;

(i)

connections to public passenger transport services and to section 19 services;

(j)

passenger journeys involving travel on more than one local bus service, or travel on both a local bus service and public passenger transport services or section 19 services;

(k)

ticketing, fares, and how entitlement to travel may be evidenced;

(l)

education and training;

(m)

interaction with customers, including in connection with customer feedback, and procedures for dealing with complaints and incidents;

(n)

compliance with statutory requirements;

(o)

incentives for improving the quality of a service;

(p)

facilities and amenities to be made available to any person;

(q)

payments to any person.

(4)

The Welsh Ministers may, after a local bus service permit has been granted, remove a condition attached to the permit by giving notice of this to the permit holder and with effect from a date specified in the notic‍e.

(5)

If the condition in subsection (6) or (7) is met, the Welsh Ministers may, after a local bus service permit has been granted, by giving notice of this to the permit holder and with effect from a date specified in the notice, vary the permit by—

(a)

revising a condition attached to the permit;

(b)

attaching a new condition to the permit.

(6)

The condition is that the variation is made in consequence of provision made under subsection (2).

(7)

The condition is that the permit holder has agreed to—

(a)

the variation of the permit as set out in the notice, and

(b)

the date specified in the notice as the date from which the variation is to take effect.

(8)

The date specified in a notice given under subsection (4) or (5) may be either the date on which the notice is given, or a subsequent date.

Annotations:
Commencement Information

I1S. 14(2)(3) in force at 3.2.2026, see s. 48(1)(d)