WEST Somerset bus campaigner Linda Sparks has been told by the Government that the power to improve local bus services was being put in the hands of Somerset Council leaders.

Ms Sparks, who has led community complaints about the No 28 bus running between Minehead and Taunton via Watchet and Williton, wrote to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to raise the issue.

She said there had been an improvement in the reliability of buses last year following an intervention with Buses of Somerset by then-MP Ian Liddell-Grainger.

But Ms Sparks said since then the buses had been ‘going back to their old ways again, turning up late, not once, but many, many times’.

Ms Sparks, who lives in Williton and works in Minehead, said: “Myself and the community have suffered in these cold and wet months.

“There should be no excuses like traffic, road accidents, drivers not available, if you have good management the industry will run smoothly.”

Ms Sparks’ letter to Sir Keir was passed to the Department for Transport (DfT), which has now responded to say how the Government knew a modern transport network was “vital to kick-starting economic growth, providing access to services and preventing isolation, while improving air quality and tackling climate change.”

A DfT spokesperson told Ms Sparks commercial bus routes were largely run and primarily determined by their viability.

The spokesperson said: “However, the Government is committed to delivering better buses throughout the country and has set out a plan to achieve this based on giving local leaders the powers they need and empowering them to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, strengthened enhanced partnerships, or local authority-owned bus companies.”

They said a new Bill represented the next phase in the Government's ambitious bus reform agenda, aimed at improving the passenger experience and increasing bus usage nationwide.

It would put power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England to ensure bus services reflected the needs of communities which relied on them.

The spokesperson said Chancellor Rachel Reeves had confirmed as part of the Budget an investment of more than £1 billion in 2025/26 to support and improve bus services and to keep fares affordable.

It included £712 million in Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and Bus Service Operators Grant funding for local authorities such as Somerset Council.

Somerset received a £6 million share of the 2025-26 BSIP money and is currently considering how it can be spent, with a decision due to be announced in the spring.

Council executive Cllr Richard Wilkins said a range of new proposals to improve bus provision in the county was being considered.

Cllr Wilkins said this year’s BSIP settlement had been positive and councillors wanted to ‘look at an exciting range of proposals across more towns’.

He said the authority had already shown BSIP funds could make a difference in Taunton and now it was time to do the same in the wider county.