Political opinion - Euan Stainbank MP: Back British buses—before it’s too late

“Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.” That’s what a constituent rightly told me when I asked what they thought my top three priorities should be if elected as their MP. In Falkirk and across the UK, people need secure, skilled work—especially four years into a cost-of-living crisis.

Bus manufacturing in Falkirk has long provided that. It’s one of the industries synonymous with our town still active. With Alexander Dennis now consulting on 400 job losses, the situation is urgent.

I’m confident that a solution to this problem can be found, but there must be longer-term action so that this strategically vital industry and its workforce aren’t left in this situation again. That’s why shortly after the election alongside Alex Baker, the MP for Aldershot; I relaunched the British Buses All Party Group to back a strong UK sector that can deliver for both operators and workers.

The UK must lead, not lag in the ambition to decarbonise transport. A greener bus network should mean more manufacturing here at home—but only if the right strategy is in place. We have slipped in this ambition, losing far too much of this market share to Chinese companies.

In 2020, Boris Johnson promised 4,000 zero-emission buses built in Britain. By 2024, just over half had been delivered—and nearly half of those came from overseas, despite £312 million in taxpayer funding. In Scotland under the ScotZEB2 scheme, over 80% of orders funded with your taxes went abroad, with Falkirk receiving only 44 of 252 orders.

This inefficient use of public money, while livelihoods are at risk in our community, is indefensible. Competing in a global economy shouldn’t mean simply outsourcing opportunity. It means investing in our own capacity like Manchester’s Mayor did when he brought buses back under local control and sourced them domestically including a substantial share from Falkirk.

Bus manufacturing sustains over 4,000 jobs directly and more than 13,000 in the wider supply chain. That's why it matters where buses are built—and who builds them. Public bodies must weigh not only transport outcomes but also the wider economic benefit of domestic procurement.

Under Labour there are signs of progress. The new Government’s Procurement policy supports UK industry, by aligning procurement with our industrial strategy in a way that should maximise taxpayers' money in this country.

But we now need urgent action. I’m calling for three steps:

1. A national plan to build 2,000 British-made zero-emission buses annually, with investment in skills and supply chains. We need to repair Boris’ broken promise to the industry.
2. Procurement reform to allow for prioritisation of local content. The Labour Government’s introduction of the Procurement Act allows for discounting of non-treaty states, but we must work with industry to go further.
3. Greater focus on bus manufacturing in the Industrial strategy, the industrial strategy's first litmus test is bus manufacturing in Falkirk.

We have the skills, the capacity, and the demand. Now we need the urgent political and industrial will to back buses in Falkirk.