6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 The Bus Services Act 2025 puts the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders, enabling them to shape services that best meet the needs of their local communities. DfE will work with DfT to ensure that transport to schools and education settings is considered in drafting the guidance and secondary legislation they will deliver to support the Act. 6.3 DfE has worked with the Department for Transport to ensure that Better Connected, a strategy for integrated transport, takes account of transport to schools and education settings and encourages local transport authorities to integrate home-to-school transport with wider public transport networks, reducing costs and improving service provision and frequency. It also emphasises the importance improving the reliability, accessibility and safety of public transport and creating safer streets to support walking, wheeling and cycling. 6.4 This will be reflected in guidance for Local Transport Authorities which will encourage authorities to consider transport to schools and education settings in their Local Transport Plans, and to work with education departments to ensure joined-up planning locally. 6.5 The government’s investment in walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure, including safer routes to schools, will promote healthier lifestyles and provide low-cost, accessible travel options for pupils and staff, increasing the amount of choice in how journeys to school are made. 6.6 Together, these reforms signal a shift toward a more coherent, high-quality system in which home to school transport and post-16 travel are embedded within wider transport policy making and network planning, rather than sitting at the margins.