Summer savings for children launched

Fam­i­lies trav­el­ling this sum­mer will ben­e­fit from free bus trav­el for chil­dren as part of the gov­ern­men­t’s efforts to help with the cost of liv­ing.  

The gov­ern­ment is com­mit­ting more than £100 mil­lion to fund the free fares scheme and also con­tin­u­ing to sup­port bus ser­vices. Every child aged five to 15 in Eng­land will trav­el free on par­tic­i­pat­ing local bus­es through­out August – with unlim­it­ed jour­neys, no reg­is­tra­tion required and at no cost to fam­i­lies. 

It is part of a scheme called ‘Great British Sum­mer Sav­ings’, which also includes cut­ting VAT on fam­i­ly activ­i­ties from 25 June to 1 Sep­tem­ber 2026.

The gov­ern­ment says this will reduce the costs of chil­dren’s meals in restau­rants, chil­dren’s tick­ets for the­atres and cin­e­mas and tick­ets for every­one for attrac­tions like soft play, adven­ture cen­tres and theme parks.

In addi­tion, prod­ucts includ­ing bis­cuits, choco­late, dried fruit and nuts are set to see tar­get­ed cuts to agri-food tar­iffs, to help to reduce pres­sure on food prices. 

Prime Min­is­ter Keir Starmer said: 

‘We know many hard-work­ing fam­i­lies are still feel­ing the squeeze and too often think they have to hold back.

‘By giv­ing every child free bus trav­el through­out August and cut­ting tar­iffs on every­day food items, we’re putting mon­ey back into peo­ple’s pock­ets and mak­ing life that bit eas­i­er.

‘This gov­ern­ment is focused on prac­ti­cal steps that help right now — eas­ing pres­sure on house­hold bud­gets, sup­port­ing par­ents dur­ing the school hol­i­days and back­ing British busi­ness­es.’

Inter­net link: GOV.UK GOV.UK