The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 5th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what alternative provisions they are making for individuals who live in areas affected by closures of rural bus routes.
Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con): Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 15 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether DRT can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.
The Government has provided over £2 billion in emergency and recovery funding since March 2020 through to 30 June to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and prevent reductions to bus services.
On 17 May, we announced a long-term approach to continue protecting vital bus services with an additional £300 million from July 2023 until April 2025. Almost half of this additional funding will be provided to bus operators, partially based on the distance of the services that they operate. This will allow us to focus funding on longer routes, such as those in rural areas, where some services are less likely to be commercially sustainable without additional funding. In addition, the successful fare cap scheme has also been extended to help with costs and increase patronage.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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