The state of the country's bus services is too often unacceptably poor after more than a decade of neglect and decline. In September we moved fast and announced transformative new measures to make it quicker and easier for every local authority in England to have London-style control over its bus services.

I am aware of the premium that my hon. Friend places on public transport. Indeed, I have campaigned along with him, in his beautiful constituency. I am delighted to confirm that we will introduce a new buses Bill this year to give local leaders the tools that they need to ensure the delivery of high-quality bus networks, putting decision making into their hands and seriously accelerating the franchising process.

I am grateful for my hon. Friend's question. The better buses Bill is designed exactly to help authorities such as the North East combined authority. I have met the Mayor, as has the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell (Simon Lightwood), who has responsibility for local transport, on a number of occasions to discuss how we can ensure that the franchising process is sped up so that we can deliver better bus services much more quickly for my hon. Friend's constituents.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has put her finger on exactly the problem with the system across the country at the moment. For too long, we have allowed private operators to pick and choose whatever routes and services they want, with no say whatsoever for local people or local leaders. The better buses Bill is at the heart of our bus service reforms, and it will give local people a proper say on the routes and services that they absolutely depend on.

The hon. Gentleman has made the case for franchising. It is totally unacceptable that entire villages are cut off, without the bus services that they absolutely need. That denies people the opportunity to move around their area and get to work or education opportunities. The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is pursuing franchising. We are supporting him in those efforts, and we will make sure that villages such as those in the hon. Gentleman's constituency are properly included in the franchising process.

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to suggest that the underfunding of bus services over a decade has led to the cancellation and scrapping of thousands of bus routes across the country, and passenger numbers have fallen over the last 40 years. We are committed to consolidating funding and ending the “Hunger Games” style process that the previous Government oversaw, which pitted authorities against each other and created winners and losers.