How the Bus Service Operators Grant Plus (BSOG+) works
Updated 11 April 2024
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bus-service-operators-grant-plus/how-the-bus-service-operators-grant-plus-bsog-works
Bus Service Operators Grant Plus (BSOG+) is a grant for eligible commercial bus services.
The BSOG+ scheme started on 1 July 2023. It aims to:
- support the reform and consolidation of bus funding
- develop long-term sustainability in bus funding for the sector
The scheme will run until 31 March 2025.
BSOG+ is a new and separate grant to BSOG.
Operators should continue to claim BSOG from 1 July 2023 until 31 March 2025 to receive BSOG and BSOG+ funding.
Who is eligible
To be eligible for the BSOG+, operators must:
- be eligible for BSOG
- have a current BSOG number (a certified claim made within the past 2 years)
- claim BSOG for the entire period that BSOG+ is available
- have submitted a declaration form to the Department for Transport (DfT) by 31 July 2023
Operators are not eligible for BSOG+ for services that run only:
- on a section 19 permit
- within Greater Manchester or the West Midlands Combined Authority areas
Eligible services
BSOG and BSOG+ share the same eligibility criteria for all services.
BSOG+ funding is only for kilometres run on commercial services. Tendered services are not eligible.
Eligible kilometres
Both live and dead kilometres are eligible for BSOG+.
Live kilometres are kilometres covered from the start to end points of a registered eligible service.
Dead kilometres are kilometres from:
- the empty journey from the operating base to the start point of a registered eligible service
- the journey at the end of an eligible live journey to return to the depot at the end of a shift
- any journey linking the end of one eligible live service and the start of another eligible live service
- a journey linking an ineligible service (for example, private hire or closed contract) to the start of a registered eligible live journey that is eligible for BSOG
The dead kilometres must be actual kilometres run. They must not be a calculated percentage of the eligible local service kilometres.
A dead journey from the end of a live eligible journey to the start of an ineligible service is not eligible for the grant. You also will not receive BSOG+ for any kilometres that you would have travelled if the bus had instead returned to the operating yard.
Eligible locations
BSOG+ is available for commercial services in England, excluding services operating under franchise to Transport for London (TfL).
For services that cross the boundaries of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands and run both inside and outside of these combined authorities, you are eligible for BSOG+ from DfT for the entirety of that route.
If your service runs only within Greater Manchester or the West Midlands, the relevant combined authority will be setting the methodology and approach.
BSOG+ payments
Quarterly payments for BSOG+ will be calculated using the operator’s most recent certified BSOG claim. Operators will be asked to submit a monthly breakdown of eligible service kilometres with their subsequent certified BSOG claims.
A reconciliation exercise will be carried out with subsequent BSOG-certified claims that cover the BSOG+ period to true-up payments against actual services run during the time period. Future payments will be adjusted for any over-payments and under-payments.
As an exception, operators that run services that cross the border of Greater Manchester will be required to claim for BSOG+ by submitting data to the online BSOG+ digital claims system. Payments for cross-border Greater Manchester operators will be paid via this digital system only from January 2024.
BSOG units that received more than £1 million in BSOG funding in the financial year ending 2022 will need to submit quarterly management information to DfT. If this applies, you will be contacted with further details in due course.
Current payment rates
Payment rates are set at a pence per unit rate for each of the fuel types. You’ll be paid an additional distance-based payment of 3.21 pence per kilometre.
| Fuel type | Unit payable | BSOG rate from 1 January 2014 | BSOG+ fuel rate from April 2024 to 31 March 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | Pence per litre | 34.57 | 9.14 |
| Biodiesel | Pence per litre | 34.57 | 9.14 |
| Bioethanol blends | Pence per litre | 34.57 | 9.14 |
| Biofuels – used cooking oil | Pence per litre | 34.57 | 9.14 |
| All road fuel gas | Pence per kilogram | 18.88 | 4.99 |
| Zero emission bus (ZEB) | Pence per kilometre | 22 | 6.75 |
Contact us
You can email us at bsog.plus@dft.gov.uk or write to us at:
BSOG+ Team
Department for Transport
3rd Floor
One Priory Square
Hastings, TN34 1EA
Terms and conditions
DfT retains the right to check all claims made. We may deny, suspend or recover BSOG+ payments from operators where the terms and conditions of the scheme have not been met.
Operators are also expected to work with local transport authorities to support the production of bus connectivity assessments.
Read the full terms and conditions for the BSOG+ funding scheme.