UK bus manufacturing expert panel: mayoral commitments on zero emission buses
Published 19 March 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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The UK bus manufacturing expert panel consisted of industry experts and local leaders across the UK.
The expert panel, which ran from March 2025 to March 2026, concluded with a set of agreed mayoral commitments on zero emission buses.
Social value commitments
To apply a minimum 10% social value weighting in all future bus procurement tenders, with yearly reviews on the weighting informed by data and lessons learned from bus fleet procurement exercises.
To agree a consistent approach to social value, capturing and delivering UK wide benefits in addition to local benefits, where relevant and proportionate, in future bus fleet procurement tenders.
To develop best practice social value questions, which could be used as a standardised base questionnaire in future tender documents, ensuring consistency and transparency, by September and in time to inform the next large bus fleet MCA procurement exercises.
Zero emission bus order pipeline commitment
To contribute to updating the 10-year ZEB order pipeline at least twice per year - providing accurate data to support manufacturing planning and decarbonisation investment.
Accessibility commitments
To adopt the Accessibility Compendium to inform the design of all future zero emission bus specifications, incorporating as a minimum all the Part 1 Recommended Standards for Universal Adoption.
To the continuous improvement of inclusive zero emission bus design and will incorporate Part 2 Standards wherever practicable.
To participate in the development of the Accessibility Charter, embedding accessibility standards into local transport strategies.
Safety commitment
To work collaboratively across the bus sector to develop a safety compendium to inform the design of zero emission bus specifications by the end of 2026.
Collective procurement commitments
To continue exploring standard bus specifications with manufacturers, including accessibility and safety features.
To work across MCAs to foster collaboration and explore joint procurement, if and where it makes sense to do so and meet ongoing decarbonisation targets.
Grid connectivity commitment
To continue to share lessons learned on grid connectivity with distribution network operators and operators through a quarterly forum.