Bus Reform Without Safety: FOI Evidence Raises Serious Questions Across England

Over recent weeks, I have been submitting Freedom of Information requests to local transport authorities, combined authorities, and national bodies to understand a simple question:

Who is responsible for bus safety — and how is it being governed as reforms progress?

The responses I’ve received are now starting to paint a consistent — and deeply concerning — national picture.

🚨 A System Moving Ahead Without Safety Foundations

From one authority, I was told:

“We do not hold bus safety data.”

From another:

“This work is still in development and nothing has been formalised.”

Now, further evidence obtained from a local authority involved in the Department for Transport’s franchising pilot programme shows:

• Risk registers are still being developed
• Safety and workforce impacts remain “in progress”
• No trade unions were consulted during the application stage

This is not speculation — this is recorded, official information.

📊 Reform First — Safety Later?

At the same time as this:

• Consultancy contracts have been awarded
• Franchising pilot applications submitted
• Governance structures being designed
• Policy decisions actively progressing

Yet:

The basic safety framework is incomplete.
The workforce has not been engaged.
The risk assessment process is not finished.

Internal correspondence also shows work being driven by tight Department for Transport deadlines — raising serious questions about whether safety considerations are being fully embedded or simply deferred.

👷 The Missing Voice: Bus Workers

Perhaps the most striking revelation is this:

No recognised trade unions representing bus workers were consulted.

At a time when driver fatigue, assaults on staff, welfare facilities and operational pressures are all well-documented across the industry, the people delivering services have been excluded from the process.

That is not just an oversight — it is a structural failure.

⚖️ A Governance Gap Emerging

Across multiple authorities, a pattern is now clear:

• Safety data – not held centrally
• Safety governance – still developing
• Risk assessment – incomplete
• Workforce consultation – absent
• Reform programmes – moving ahead

This raises a fundamental question:

How can major structural reform of bus services proceed without a clear, defined, and operational safety governance framework?

🔍 A National Issue — Not a Local One

This is no longer about one authority.

The evidence now suggests this is a system-wide issue:

• Local authorities are progressing reform
• National policy is driving change at pace
• Safety governance is lagging behind

🧭 What Needs to Happen Now

If bus reform is to succeed — and truly deliver for passengers — safety must be treated as a core system function, not an afterthought.

At a minimum, there must be:

• A clear national framework for bus safety governance
• Defined roles and responsibilities across all bodies
• Mandatory risk assessment before implementation
• Full engagement with the workforce
• Transparent data collection and reporting systems

📢 Final Thought

We all want better buses.

We all want more reliable, integrated, passenger-focused services.

But none of that can come at the expense of safety.

Right now, the evidence suggests the system is being built before its safety foundations are in place.

That is not a risk we should be willing to take.

Author:

Lee Odams is Branch Secretary of the RMT Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Bus Branch and a frontline bus driver with nearly two decades of experience in the industry. He is an active campaigner on bus safety, driver welfare, public transport reform and accountability, regularly engaging with local authorities, regulators and national bodies through formal submissions, FOI requests and policy advocacy. Lee also writes and publishes independent analysis on the future of the UK bus network.

bus safety, bus franchising, transport policy, public transport reform, driver fatigue, bus drivers, RMT union, UK buses, transport governance, FOI, transparency, bus regulation, passenger safety, local transport authorities, Department for Transport, bus services bill, accountability, public transport UK