Whilst most English cities outside London have seen falling bus passenger numbers, in Bristol the number of journeys by bus has risen by 40% since 2010. This is of course very welcome, in that it helps reduce congestion on our roads, and pollution from cars. But we need to move to cleaner buses, as at the moment around a quarter of Bristol’s NOx emissions are from buses and coaches.

Today, I asked at Transport questions whether the Government would support Bristol City Council’s bid for £2.5 million from the Clean Bus Technology Fund, which will fund the retrofitting of almost 170 of the oldest buses. Bristol has already retrofitted over 80 buses and the Council is putting in the investment to clean up its own vehicle fleet. I hope the Government will support the city in our efforts to tackle air pollution.