Back British Buses, Support Scottish Jobs

It is hard to find a better soundbite from a serving Government Minister than the Chancellor’s “Where things are built and by who: Matters.”

I led a Westminster Hall debate this week to argue for a stronger, more strategic approach to British bus manufacturing. This was not an abstract policy discussion; it was about where things are built and by whom, and about communities like Falkirk that have been central to Britain’s bus-building story for so long. The factories along Glasgow Road in Camelon in my constituency, and the global headquarters of Alexander Dennis in Larbert, a stone’s throw from where I grew up, represent not just industrial capacity, but generations of skilled employment and engineering expertise.

This debate was about these killed jobs, industrial resilience, and whether public money is being used to strengthen native industry or to subsidise overseas competitors.

The same is true in Ballymena, Scarborough, Aldershot and other manufacturing communities across the country. That legacy is now under serious pressure.

The central symptom pointing to the problem I am so keen for us to address is this: while the UK is buying more zero-emission buses than ever before, as part of the entirely welcome push for operators and franchises to decarbonise, fewer of them are being built here. Last year, registrations of zero-emission buses rose by almost 40 per cent, yet the number produced domestically fell.

Too many taxpayer-funded schemes intended to encourage fleet transformation have resulted in a substantial proportion of publicly funded buses being built overseas, with the Johnson administration’s ambition of 4,000 British-built buses by 2024 falling dramatically short. In Scotland, two thirds of ScotZEB2 orders went abroad, while less than 20 per cent were won by Scotland’s sole bus manufacturer.

Buses, as the most commonly used form of public transport in Britain, are not only a transport issue but also an industrial security issue. During the debate, I raised proportionate concerns about the security implications of foreign-built electric buses, including ongoing investigations into potential remote access or deactivation technology and Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) registration standards. These risks should be examined carefully, not glossed over in the understandable urgency to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport.

The transition to cleaner, quieter transport is necessary and widely recognised as being on track, including by UK manufacturers themselves. However, a green transition that accelerates deindustrialisation is neither just nor resilient.

If we get this wrong, Britain risks becoming dependent on overseas manufacturers for vehicles that are critical to everyday life and public services. Once domestic manufacturing capacity is lost, it is exceptionally difficult to rebuild.

The answer is not protectionism, but smarter use of existing policy tools. Procurement rules should place far greater weight on social value, explicitly linking public spending to UK jobs, skills, tax returns and wider economic impact. A minimum 30 per cent social value weighting would materially influence outcomes, unlike the tokenistic thresholds that too often fail to do so today.

Local authorities need clearer guidance and greater confidence to use the powers already available under procurement law, including the Procurement Act 2023’s ability to disregard bids from non-treaty state suppliers. Other countries manage to support domestic manufacturing while remaining compliant with international trade rules. There is no reason the UK cannot be smarter and more muscular in our ambition to make Britain its own best customer again.

We can already see what effective procurement looks like. In Greater Manchester and Liverpool, public transport authorities have structured contracts to support domestic manufacturing. As a result, Greater Manchester’s Bee Network alone now operates more buses built in Falkirk than were purchased for passengers across Scotland under the most recent Scottish Government scheme.

As Co-Chair of the British Buses All-Party Parliamentary Group, I will continue pressing the Government, operators and funding bodies to back British buses. With the zero-emission bus mandate approaching, the next few years will shape the sector for decades.

Green investment should build British industry, protect Scottish jobs and secure long-term opportunity in places like Falkirk. We already have the tools, and our workers have the experience. What is required now is the will.