HC Deb 21 November 1985 vol 87 c269W
Mr. Robert Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the estimated financial savings, in each relevant financial year, of the phasing out of new bus grants.

Mr. Ridley

When the last Administration decided to phase out new bus grants in 1977, the annual cost was £43 million. It is impossible to say how many buses would have been brought into service had the grant rate remained at 50 per cent., and the saving from phasing out the grant cannot therefore be reliably estimated.