EXTRACT FROM HANSARD, 5 NOVEMBER 2001
Travel Concessions (Eligibility) Bill [Lords]
The Minister for Transport (Mr John Spellar):
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
The Chamber is slightly quieter and less crowded
than when I addressed it a couple of weeks ago.
The Bill is straightforward, It has a single
specific purpose—to equalise the entitlement to concessionary
travel for men and women at the age of 60. It will bring to some
8 million the number of people who benefit from the Government's
statutory requirements for travel concession.
Concessionary fare schemes offer cheaper travel
on public transport for people who are economically disadvantaged,
and demonstrate our commitment to fighting social exclusion. The
Government are committed to ensuring that bus travel in particular
remains within the means of those on limited incomes and those
who have mobility difficulties.
Legislation requiring local authorities to offer
a minimum of 50 per cent reductions for elderly and disabled people
on local buses came into force earlier this year. Those changes
are benefiting 5.5 million pensioners and 1.5 million disabled
people across England and Wales. With this Bill, a further 1 million
men aged between 60 and 64 will be able to share the benefits
of concessionary travel, bringing the total number of people who
benefit to about 8 million.
The provision for travel concessions is at present
in the Transport Act 1985, the Greater London Authority Act 1999
and the Transport Act 2000. As I said, local authorities in England
and Wales must arrange for elderly and disabled people living
in their areas to receive a half-fare concession or better on
local bus services—those within the local authority's area—subject
to the person obtaining a permit, which must be given free of
charge.
Local authorities also have discretion to offer
further concessions on bus and other public passenger transport
services, such as local trains, metros, ferries or the London
underground. They may also provide concessionary travel outside
their boundaries if they wish. Indeed, many local authorities
offer concessions on other modes of public transport and fares
cheaper than half price, or they joint to offer an area-wide scheme—an
obvious example of that is London. However, authorities must not
offer a scheme providing less than the half-fare statutory minimum.
David Winnick (Walsall, North): The Bill raises
an important point for the west midlands. I certainly welcome
what my right hon. Friend is introducing, but as he knows, since
he is a fellow west midlands Member of Parliament, the region
has a totally free bus scheme, which pensioners are keen to keep.
We hope—I am sure that he agrees—that there will be
no undermining of that scheme, which has been in operation for
some time?
Mr Spellar: As my hon. Friend is aware, all
the legislation provides, which is important in many areas of
the country, is the statutory minimum. It is open to local authorities
to provide more than that, and, as he rightly says, the west midlands
has been doing so for a considerable period. I know that he has
been an extremely worthy exponent of the advantages of the scheme
and the mobility that it gives elderly and disabled people in
the region. He is aware of the commitment of local authorities
in the west midlands to maintaining that scheme.
Mr Eric Pickles (Brentwood and Ongar): I was
a little surprised to hear the Minister mention ferries. I understand
that there is an issue concerning any crossing of the Solent except
by jobseekers and some hospital patients. Will he clarify that
specific matter?
Mr Spellar: It is open to local authorities
to offer further concessions. The matter raised by the hon. Gentleman
may need to be discussed with the local authorities involved—presumably,
Isle of Wight unitary council and Hampshire county council—but,
following his intervention, I am certainly happy to have a look
at it.
At the moment, entitlement to travel concessions
for elderly people is linked to pensionable age, as defined in
the Pensions Act 1995. That means that women may take advantage
of concessionary travel schemes offered by their local authority
at 60, but men must wait until their 65 birthday to do so. There
is of course no age barrier to entitlement to concessionary fare
schemes for disabled people. Given the opposition to current legislation,
which discriminates on the ground of gender, we have decided to
end the anomaly. In this Bill, we are therefore legislating to
equalise entitlement at 60. We expect the provisions to take effect
from April 2003 at the latest.
Under the provisions of the Pensions Act, pensionable
age will start to equalise from 2010, so that by 2020 both men
and women will receive state pensions at age 65. Clause 1(4) provides
reserve powers for the Secretary of State or the National Assembly
for Wales to restore the link to entitlement to concessionary
fares with that to state pensions. Should orders be made under
that power—in 2010 at the earliest—the age of entitlement
to concessionary travel for both men and women would similarly
rise to 65 by 2020.
The Bill will not create new concessionary fare
schemes. Local authorities will have to adjust their concessionary
fare schemes to broaden entitlement to men aged between 60 and
64, but we envisage that the additional administrative burden
on local authorities of issuing passes will be minimal.
Reimbursement arrangements under existing legislative
provisions mean that the financial impact on transport operators
will be neutral. Operators are reimbursed for revenue forgone
so that they are financially no better and no worse off than if
they did not participate in the concessionary fares scheme. Calculation
of the level of reimbursement by local authorities may take into
account increases in the number of passengers travelling—the
so-called generation factor. Those reimbursement arrangements
are well tried and tested, and we do not foresee any difficulty
in administering or operating the increased entitlement.
There is no doubt that concessionary fares are
expensive. In England, local authorities currently spend £440
million each year on their schemes, and extending eligibility
to men aged 60 to 64 might cost an additional £50 million
a year in England. That will be a new cost to local authorities
and additional funding will be made available through the revenue
support grant in the normal way as part of the local government
finance settlement.
In terms of territorial extent, the Bill applies
to England and Wales. The National Assembly for Wales has its
own commencement powers. Concessionary travel is devolved to Scotland
and separate legislation to equalise entitlement is making progress
there. In Northern Ireland, entitlement is already equalised at
65.
As a further measure to tack social exclusion,
I take this opportunity to announce our agreement in principle
to a proposal under which coach operators would offer half-price
fares to older and disabled passengers on long-distance scheduled
coaches in England; in return for the fare concessions, operators
would, for the first time, receive fuel duty rebate. That was
recommended by the Commission for Integrated Transport. After
discussions with the Treasury, we are responding to that recommendation.
Many older and disabled people rely on coaches to travel long
distances, especially to maintain family links, so I am sure that
they will welcome a free pass entitling them to half-price fares.
The Bill is a small but important measure that
will ensure that men and women receive the benefits of concessionary
travel without discrimination. That will be welcomed by an additional
1 million elderly people and, I hope, by the whole House.
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