Transport Scotland grants and subsidy programmes provided to bus operators: FOI release

Information requested

The total figures per year for the last 5 years of the amount of subsidies and/or grant given to privately owned bus companies in Scotland.

Response

The answer to your question is noted below which list the grants and subsidy programmes provided to bus operators.

Most of the information you have requested is available from our Transport Scotland website. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Bus Services Operators Grant (BSOG)/Network Support Grant (NSG)/COVID-19 Support Grant (CSG & CSG-R)

Transport Scotland publishes monthly reports showing all items of expenditure over £25,000 on their website - Publications | Transport Scotland

Smart Pay Grant Fund

Scottish Government and European Regional Development Fund to support contactless payment solutions - ERDF funding - Smart Pay Grant Fund (transport.gov.scot)

Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS)

SULEBS supported the Scottish Government’s net zero targets, its commitment to delivering Low Emission Zones and Scotland’s ambitions to transport decarbonisation - Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme | Transport Scotland

Scottish Zero Emission Bus challenge fund

The aim of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) is to support swift, and significant, change in the bus market in favour of zero-emission technologies - Scottish Zero Emission Bus challenge fund | Transport Scotland

Scottish Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit Fund

The Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit (BEAR) programme aims to fit buses/coaches with Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme accredited retrofit technology measures to support the delivery of Scotland’s Low Emission Zones (LEZs) - Scottish Bus Emission Abatement Retrofit Fund | Transport Scotland (awards for previous years are provided in the attached worksheet).

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption(s) under section 33(1)(b) ‘Commercial interests’ of FOISA applies to that information.

An exemption(s) under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to recipients of the Smart Pay Grant Fund and payments made under BSOG/NSG/CSG/CSG-R that are under £25k of the information you have requested.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because it provides detail on how taxpayer money is invested. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in revealing information for smaller bus operators which would provide competitors with a level of detail of their operations and an insight into their business that would jeopardise their competitive tendering for current and future routes that were offered by local authorities or transport partnerships. The totals BSOG/NSG/CSG/CSG-R for the last five years are provided in the attached spreadsheet.​​​​

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202400436922 - Information Released - Annex

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Excel document

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