There has been only one bus cancellation per day on average since the new fleet was introduced, David Burt told Parliament.

The Premier was responding to a question in the House of Assembly on Friday by Ianthia Simmons-Wade, a government backbencher, on how investment in the bus service has improved its reliability.

Mr Burt responded: “In the period and point in time up to the time that the new buses became operative, we were looking at average cancellations of 25 a day, which was a significant impact.

“After the new buses came into operation, average cancellations dropped to one per day. Those things can happen for a number of reasons. We have seen a significant improvement in the bus service due to the investments that this government has made.”

The Ministry of Transport introduced 30 electric buses to its fleet in 2022, with 40 additional buses added later.

Ms Wade asked what other measures were being taken to improve the service.

The Premier said: “We know that we have to continue to invest in public services to make them better.

“The key point is that this Government has always acted in a fiscally responsible and prudent manner to ensure that we can remain on budget targets while also making the necessary investments which are important for the people in this country.

“This year, as it was funded in last year’s Budget, I believe the Minister of Transport has informed me that the digital fare should be up and running by the summer.

“Summer begins in June and we are expecting those things to be ready for that point in time. Not only will it improve bus service in so far as efficiency, it also helps with collection of revenue.”

Mr Burt also revealed during the question period that a total of 49 applications for the Government’s $50 million mortgage guarantee programme have been approved.

A total of 135 applications were made, he said.

“There are some constituents who are challenged with the fact that some banks in the country, not all banks in the country, have raised their interest rates,” Mr Burt told the House.

“We have seen that the unfortunate result of that is significantly increased banking profits in the local market. That is why the Government acts to make sure that we can provide relief where we can and we have done a good job in doing that.”

The Premier said that phase 3 of the project, which is the next one, could allow not just public officers but the wider public to participate.

He said: “The Government is certainly monitoring the $50 million limit and making sure that we exhaust the awareness on phase 2 before we move to phase 3.

“It is also important that though it may not be the mortgage guarantee programme, which provides interest rates at 5 per cent, it should be noted that there are banks that provide significantly lower interest rates on mortgages in the local market than they may be at banks that have raised their interest rates significantly over the past year.

“In that case, the Government responded by making sure that we are not at phase 3 by making sure we remove taxes on changes of mortgages so that persons can move their mortgages from one bank to another without having to incur additional stamp duty charges, which can save them a significant amount of funds.”