Purpose

The awards will support the purchase of 13 new electric
vehicles and the conversion of a further 2 diesel minibuses.
Various interior upgrades or additional features for a further 9
vehicles ranging from accessibility enhancements such as safety
rails, installation of CCTV, USB chargers, 5G ready Wi-Fi and floor
replacements.
The initiative has attracted an additional £4.056M in
collective investment from the operators. It also enables timely
investment in the local bus network utilising DfT Bus
Grant.
 

Content

The award of funding under the Vehicle Improvement Fund
2025/26 to local bus operators for upgrades to their bus fleets
that aim to improve passenger experience and/or
advance the decarbonisation of the bus network.
The awards total £1.402M, (the maximum budget for
this scheme was £1.443M), made up of seven individual
grants.
A
robust application and assessment process was followed in
determining these awards, consistent with the DfT funding terms
(MoU).
 

Reasons for the decision

The Vehicle Improvement Fund awards are in line with the
purpose of the funding and with the DfT MoU for use of the Bus
Grant funding.
 
In addition, this decision was approved by OCC’s
Capital Programme Board on 04 December 2025.

Alternative options considered

The option not to award the grants was
considered but there were no grounds to reject them given they were
consistent with the purpose and availability of the funding.