Andy Burnham has announced that most single bus fares in England will be capped at £2 from January, part of a broader package of measures aimed at easing the cost of living under the new prime minister. The move lowers the current £3 nationwide cap and reverses an increase introduced by Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in 2024, though some areas such as London and Greater Manchester had already maintained a £2 limit locally.

The cap will run throughout 2027 and is backed by £454m of funding, with £400m coming from switching international climate finance from grants to loans and the remainder from savings in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero budget; the total scheme cost is expected to exceed £500m. Chancellor John Healey said "millions of people" would benefit from fares cut by a third at no cost to taxpayers, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said it would make journeys "easier and cheaper". The announcement follows an £850m VAT cut on electricity bills unveiled a day earlier, a policy that has sparked a funding row after former minister Darren Jones said it was unfunded, which Downing Street disputes.