What dedicated financial and technical support it is currently providing to regional transport partnerships, including the Strathclyde Part…

On 17 March, the Scottish Government published the guidance for Local Services Franchises on the Transport Scotland website, which is intended to provide technical support to all local authorities, including Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) in developing their franchising proposals. On 12 June 2026, the SPT Strategy and Programmes Committee approved an award of contract for services to undertake a Franchising Assessment.We recognise that SPT is the only local transport authority in Scotland who has officially announced its intentions to pursue bus franchising, following the publication of its Regional Bus Strategy in September 2025. To support local transport authorities financially we are committed to investing £4 million in 2026-27 to support Local Transport Authorities to build business cases for local bus improvement through franchising.The Scottish Government also provides revenue grant funding to support RTPs’ core operating costs and statutory functions, alongside contributions from constituent councils. In 2026/27, we awarded £3.468 million in revenue funding across all 7 RTPs, which included £617,025 to SPT. Decisions on the allocations of Scottish Government funding in future years is subject to the annual Budget Bill process.