Legislation – Bus Services Act 2025
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Information about local services
24Information provided on registration of local services
(1)
The Transport Act 1985 is amended in accordance with subsections (2) and (3).
(2)
In section 6 (registration of local services)—
(a)
in subsection (9)—
(i)
“(da)
in the case of regulations made by the Secretary of State, for the prescribed particulars in respect of a service to be given to such persons as may be prescribed;
(e)
in the case of regulations made by the Secretary of State, for an application for registration, or for the variation or cancellation of a registration, not to be accepted by a traffic commissioner unless—
(i)
the applicant gives, to such persons as may be prescribed, such information as a traffic commissioner may reasonably require in connection with the application, or
(ii)
the applicant is subject to requirements imposed by regulations made by virtue of section 141A(1)(a) of the Transport Act 2000 and complies with those requirements;
(ea)
in the case of regulations made by the Welsh Ministers, for an application for registration, or for the variation or cancellation of a registration, not to be accepted by a traffic commissioner unless the applicant gives to a traffic commissioner such information as a traffic commissioner may reasonably require in connection with the application;”;
(ii)
“—
(i)
in the case of regulations made by the Secretary of State, to such persons as may be prescribed;
(ii)
in the case of regulations made by the Welsh Ministers, to a traffic commissioner”;
(iii)
“(kb)
in the case of regulations made by the Secretary of State, as to the use and disclosure of information given or records made available under this section;”;
(b)
“(12)
Regulations made by the Secretary of State under this section may make provision about the manner and form in which information is to be provided (including, in particular, provision requiring it to be provided electronically).”
(3)
In section 6I (records of registration etc)—
(a)
in subsection (4), for “a traffic commissioner” substitute “such persons as may be prescribed”
;
(b)
“(b)
as to the particulars to be supplied under subsection (4);
(c)
about the manner and form in which the particulars are to be supplied under that subsection (including, in particular, provision requiring them to be supplied electronically);
(d)
as to the use and disclosure of records kept and particulars supplied under this section.”
(4)
Information received by a traffic commissioner under section 6 or 6I of the Transport Act 1985, in connection with a local service which has one or more stopping places in England, before this section comes into force may be provided by the traffic commissioner to the Secretary of State (in which case the information is provided without restrictions on its disclosure or use).
(5)
Where a local service is provided both inside and outside England, subsection (4) does not authorise the provision of information which relates to any part of the service which is provided outside England.
25Information about local services
(1)
Section 141A of the Transport Act 2000 (power to require information about English bus services) is amended as follows.
(2)
In subsection (2)—
(a)
at the end of paragraph (a) omit “or”;
(b)
“, or
(c)
in order to monitor the provision of relevant local services and to facilitate the exercise of functions by the Secretary of State.”
(3)
In subsection (3)—
(a)
in paragraph (a), for “and tickets” substitute “, tickets and passenger numbers”
;
(b)
at the end of paragraph (b) omit “and”;
(c)
“(d)
information about operators of the services,
(e)
information about the vehicles used to provide the services, including information about their features and equipment, the way in which they are to be used in relation to particular routes, the distance travelled by them and the number of journeys made by them,
(f)
a statement, in relation to a relevant local service, as to whether the service consists of excursions or tours, and
(g)
any other information which may be prescribed under section 6(2)(a) of the Transport Act 1985 in relation to the registration of a local service under that section.”
(4)
In subsection (4)—
(a)
at the end of paragraph (a), omit “and”;
(b)
“, and
(c)
information about the costs of operating the services and the number of staff engaged in operating the services.”
(5)
“(b)
provision for the information to be provided to a traffic commissioner.”
26Information obtained under Statistics of Trade Act 1947
“9BException for publication of information about local bus services
(1)
Nothing in section 9 prevents or penalises the publication by the Secretary of State of information about relevant local services obtained under section 1 of this Act during the qualifying period from—
(a)
a person who, when the information was obtained, held a PSV operator’s licence, or
(b)
another person acting on behalf of such a person.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, information about relevant local services includes (but is not limited to) information about—
(a)
the vehicles used to provide the services, including information about their features and equipment, the distance travelled by them and the number of journeys made by them;
(b)
the number of tickets sold for travel on the services and the number of passengers who travelled on them;
(c)
the revenue earned from and the costs of operating the services;
(d)
the number of staff engaged in the operation of the services.
(3)
In this section—
(a)
“PSV operator’s licence” has the same meaning as in the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 (see section 82(1) of that Act);
(b)
“relevant local service” means a local service which has one or more stopping places in England;
(c)
“the qualifying period” means the period—
(i)
beginning with 1 May 2015, and
(ii)
ending with the day on which section 26 of the came into force;
(d)
“local service” and “stopping place” have the same meanings as in the Transport Act 1985 (see sections 2 and 137(1) of that Act).
9CNotice and effect of publication of information under section 9B
(1)
At least 30 days before publishing any information in reliance on section 9B, the Secretary of State must publish a notice—
(a)
describing in general terms the information to be published, and
(b)
stating that the information is to be published in reliance on that section.
(2)
The notice must be published on a website maintained by or on behalf of the Secretary of State (and may also be published in any other manner that the Secretary of State thinks appropriate).
(3)
On the publication of any information in reliance on section 9B, the following cease to apply in relation to the information—
(a)
section 9, and
(b)
any subordinate legislation (within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1978) made under that section.”