Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate UK Bus Manufacturing.
09:30 Euan Stainbank (Labour)
There were 694 more zero emission buses registered in Britain in 2025 compared with 2024, a 38% rise in the number on the road in one year. There were 167 fewer built in the United Kingdom in 2025 compared with 2024. When we need more zero emission buses, when operators and local authorities are buying more buses but there are fewer orders going to factories in Falkirk, Ballymena, Scarborough, Aldershot and across the country, we know there is a problem, and it did not start yesterday.
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09:33 Euan Stainbank (Labour)
This debate is unlike the last one held in Westminster Hall prior to the election in 2024. This is not a debate about the virtues of the current push to decarbonise transport. It is an immutable fact that the shift in demand from both operators and public subsidy is towards cleaner and quieter transport. For the UK manufacturing sector, we need to recognise that the transition to zero emission buses and away from diesel is happening. A business selling horses and carts at the beginning of the 20th century could have continued to sell the carts and might have done well in the short term, but eventually, if it did not transition to automobiles, it would have gone out of business.
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09:33 Chris Vince (Labour)
I thank my hon. Friend for his powerful speech on a topic about which I know he is particularly passionate. He will be aware that Alexander Dennis has a base in my constituency of Harlow. Would he agree that the move towards zero emission buses is a massive opportunity to increase the skills base of our communities? We should welcome the opportunity that young people have in our constituencies to work on these revolutionary new vehicles.
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09:35 Euan Stainbank (Labour)
What British industry needs is not to see its renowned prowess for making diesel buses become a sentimental memory in communities such as Falkirk, but policy certainty and support to scale up and properly compete in the zero emissions market as we move towards the implementation of the ZEB mandate. International competitors have been able to scale up to meet the global market through state subsidy and clear procurement ambition. It is up to us to gather the political will to do the same, which I am sure we will hear articulated today.
Through both the mandate and voluntary targets for new registrations, operators are moving to prepare for new additions to their fleet to be fully zero emission by 2030, at the earliest. As that date approaches and diesel buses concurrently become a diminishing part of manufacturers’ order books, we must acknowledge that there is a short window before every new bus in the UK market will be zero emission. The year 2027, proposed by some during the passage of the Bus Services Act 2025 as the date for the ZEB mandate to come into operation, would, without thought, drastically narrow that window, and I was glad to see those amendments defeated.
The initial ZEBRA—zero emission bus regional areas—scheme, touted proudly by Prime Minister Johnson’s Government, committed to 4,000 British-built buses by the end of the last Parliament. The scheme delivered just 2,270 buses, of which about 46% were built abroad. There was a material and harmful chasm between political rhetoric and delivery for UK manufacturers.
Scottish manufacturing fared worse recently in phase 2 of the Scottish Government’s zero emission bus challenge fund, the outcome of which was sending two thirds of ScotZEB2 orders to Yutong in China, while less than 20% went to Scottish manufacturers. That created an existential threat to 400 jobs and the Scottish bus manufacturing sector last year, with the First Minister being informed by the company in August 2024 that the outcome of the scheme appeared to show little regard for Scottish manufacturing, with unprecedented action being required in September to prevent the two factories from closing for good.
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09:38 Euan Stainbank (Labour)
With 400 jobs and the very existence of a century-old bus manufacturing sector put in jeopardy in my community in Falkirk last year, the state of the UK bus manufacturing sector is a real and present issue, not only for my community but for our national industrial security and how we effectively execute a just transition, as we move towards the zero emission bus mandate for 2030 at the earliest. The transition towards clean transport has been, and will be, backed by billions in additional funding from this Government, who have shown the ability to be bold on industrial policy. We have a valued, well-paid and skilled workforce. At the same time, we have an existential challenge from foreign competitors. Too much taxpayers’ money goes abroad, and too many self-imposed targets were missed by previous Governments.
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10:02 Andrew Rosindell (Reform)
By backing British bus manufacturing, we are not only calling on the Government to protect transport networks, the economy or even the Union, but also asking that they live up to their central responsibility to defend our national security. Under the zero emission bus regional areas scheme, which ended in 2024, 40% of buses were procured from abroad, increasing foreign influence in this native industry and divesting from the domestic skills base. Worse still, publications such as The Times, The Guardian and others have reported extensively on kill switches present in foreign-made buses, inserted by international competitors or adversaries of the United Kingdom, such as the People’s Republic of China. The very real risk of foreign disruption has been permitted for too long by successive—I am afraid to say—Conservative and Labour Governments and must be brought to an end. Keeping our bus manufacturing in British hands is no longer a patriotic preference or an economic luxury, but a national necessity. I call on the Government to keep our bus network in British hands, protect our people and create jobs across the kingdom that showcase British excellence. Let us ensure that we have the skills, investment and political will to back British industry making British buses: British made for generations to come.
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10:12 Jen Craft (Labour)
Ensignbus, which operates in my constituency, is not a bus manufacturer per se, but it repurposes buses and is looking to get into the repowering of buses that have finished their natural life, usually in London, which will aid the switch to zero emissions. Will my hon. Friend join me in encouraging and supporting it in that endeavour, and in urging the Minister to look into what we can do as a Government to support enterprises such as this?
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Kenneth Stevenson (Labour)
Too many fossil fuel-powered buses—more than 36,000—remain on our roads. Bus manufacturers here in the United Kingdom are prepared to meet the demand to replace them. Manufacturers are calling for certainty and security, and they are asking for Government buy-in. To think that a company such as Alexander Dennis was at risk of going under, and that the jobs of people in my constituency were threatened, when such potential exists to invest in and grow the sector is deeply worrying. Words must quickly turn into action in every part of the United Kingdom to get this industry back on its feet and contributing to our economy in the way we know that it can. That is why net zero emission bus funds, whether in Scotland or across the United Kingdom, must be accessible to British businesses. The potential to grow our economy through investing in British bus manufacturing is clear to see, and I hope to hear from the Minister how we will embrace that potential, deliver for UK industry, and protect and create jobs for years to come.
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Jim Shannon (DUP)
I find it so interesting that the global bus market is worth around $21 billion and that some 3 million buses are used for public transport. To meet global net zero goals, all buses—or at least the vast majority of them—will need to switch to zero emission alternatives by 2050. There is a great desire for the new, green-friendly electric buses. If a bus is going to last for 15 years, that commitment needs to be made now, so maybe the Minister can give us some idea of what is going to happen in relation to that.
As Members may know, the average lifespan of a bus is 15 years, which means that bus operators and local authorities are now making investments in the decarbonisation of their fleets. According to those projections, global sales of zero emission buses are due to rise from 112,000 in 2022 to 670,000 in 2027. That is massive—it would be a growth of six times in a period of five years. As a result, there is a major export opportunity for the UK bus manufacturers to sell zero emission buses in a growing global market.
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Alison Taylor (Labour)
Transporting large goods from as far away as China obviously has a detrimental environmental impact. Britain should be at the heart of manufacturing electric buses for our own use, driving forward the green transition to halt climate change. In my constituency, which covers part of Glasgow, improving air quality has undoubted health benefits. Driving change does not happen by accident; it needs a strategy, a plan, hard work and investment.
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Tracy Gilbert (Labour)
My hon. Friend will be very happy that my Edinburgh constituents ride on buses manufactured in his constituency every day, so much so that since 2018 Lothian Buses has purchased 180 buses from Alexander Dennis. In 2018, Lothian Buses and Alexander Dennis unveiled a brand new 100-seater double-decker bus. Even stepping on these buses today, they feel state of the art, with increased driver safety and passenger convenience. In 2021, Lothian Buses started testing four Enviro400EV double-decker buses, which were the result of an electric vehicle partnership between Alexander Dennis and BYD UK. This kind of partnership demonstrates the work and innovation already under way in manufacturing to decarbonise the transport that we use across our cities every day.
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John Milne (Liberal Democrat)
As Liberal Democrats, our approach would be, first, to establish a comprehensive industrial strategy in partnership with business, civil society, including trade unions and academia. Secondly, we would ensure that the principles of tackling the climate emergency, boosting living standards, spreading prosperity everywhere in the UK and growing the economy are at the heart of that strategy. Thirdly, we would seek to provide a strategic framework for effectively addressing the needs of economically disadvantaged remote or rural areas by collaborating with local, regional and devolved authorities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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10:39 Simon Lightwood (Labour)
Members have also raised the essential role of zero emission buses in supporting UK manufacturing. Let me be clear: we are committed to the transition to a zero emission bus fleet. Zero emission buses bring real, lasting benefits: cleaner air, quieter journeys, lower running costs and more reliable services for passengers. Through ZEBRA 1 and ZEBRA 2, the Department has supported the roll-out of 2,500 zero emission buses and the infrastructure that they need. That real investment is already translating into orders, the majority of which have been won by UK manufacturers.
In April 2025, we provided a further £38 million to fund an additional 319 zero emission buses, again providing real opportunities for UK manufacturers. Alongside that, we have announced £15.6 billion over five years to improve local transport across some of the biggest city regions, and given local leaders the ability to allocate funding to upgrade and decarbonise their fleets. That is a long-term commitment to cleaner bus travel and, crucially, the domestic jobs and skills that go with it.
We introduced the Bus Services Act to deliver on our commitment to better buses up and down the country. Encouraging bus operators to upgrade, modernise and decarbonise their bus fleets is a huge part of that work. The Act will introduce a requirement that new diesel buses cannot be used on local bus routes in England, which will come into force not before 2030. We will confirm the precise date in due course, but of course we will consult manufacturers and other stakeholders. Right now, that measure is sending an unambiguous signal to the entire sector that the future is zero emission. It gives manufacturers time to plan the shift, it gives operators breathing room to prepare, and it supports the longer-term case for investment in the UK.
I turn to other hon. Members’ comments. We talked about repowering, which I absolutely support. I was privileged to officially open the Wrightbus bus repowering plant, NewPower, in Ballymena. I see the potential of that as a stepping stone to decarbonising our fleets.
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09:46 Euan Stainbank (Labour)
In conclusion, I still wish to raise the point about social value and recognise the urgency of where we are at. A lot of comments were made about the market share, but the point I made at the top of the debate is that we are buying electric and zero emission buses to a greater extent—which is quite right; they are cleaner, quieter transport—but less of those orders are going to every corner of the United Kingdom and less of them are being built in this country, despite a rising demand. It is important to recognise our constituents’ unhappiness with that. One of the most common complaints that I receive from constituents in Falkirk is that despite the effort, labour and history of bus manufacturing within our community, it is not British-built or Scottish-built buses that are picking them up and taking them from our communities into the centre of Falkirk. That is an important matter to address for our industry.
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