24 Oct 2006 : Column 1748W—continued
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pensioners qualified for free (a) off-peak national and (b) local bus travel in each county in (i) 1986, (ii) 1996 and (iii) 2006. [93870]
Gillian Merron:
Free off-peak national bus travel is to be introduced in April 2008. Information on eligible pensioners, or those who would have been eligible had a statutory concession existed, is shown by each county, unitary authority and Passenger Transport Executive in the following table. Information on the eligible population of pensioners is taken from the Census produced by the Office for National Statistics. A statutory minimum concession for bus travel was introduced in the Transport Act 2000 and the eligibility criteria for pensioners changed in 2003. Data for 1986 and 1996 refer to men aged 65 or older and women aged 60 or older. Data for 2005 refer to all those aged 60 or older.
| | Thousands of eligible pensioners in mid: |
| | 1986 | 1996 | 2005 |
|
Bath and North East Somerset UA
|
33.7
|
34.5
|
39.6
|
|
Bedfordshire
|
51.3
|
58.3
|
77.4
|
|
Blackburn with Darwen UA
|
24.1
|
22.2
|
24.0
|
|
Blackpool UA
|
37.8
|
33.7
|
35.7
|
|
Bournemouth UA
|
44.3
|
40.6
|
40.8
|
|
Bracknell Forest UA
|
10.7
|
13.5
|
17.3
|
|
Brighton and Hove UA
|
59.3
|
49.8
|
48.3
|
|
Bristol, City of UA
|
77.1
|
70.4
|
72.3
|
|
Buckinghamshire
|
68.4
|
76.2
|
99.8
|
|
Cambridgeshire
|
79.5
|
89.7
|
118.9
|
|
Cheshire
|
112.0
|
124.4
|
159.1
|
|
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
|
100.1
|
110.3
|
141.2
|
|
Cumbria
|
95.7
|
99.8
|
124.7
|
|
Darlington UA
|
19.1
|
19.2
|
22.2
|
24 Oct 2006 : Column 1749W
|
Derby UA
|
39.4
|
42.0
|
48.6
|
|
Derbyshire
|
130.2
|
137.8
|
173.0
|
|
Devon
|
151.2
|
162.0
|
201.2
|
|
Dorset
|
89.0
|
98.7
|
123.2
|
|
Durham
|
89.1
|
93.5
|
113.1
|
|
East Riding of Yorkshire UA
|
55.3
|
62.8
|
84.2
|
|
East Sussex
|
128.7
|
126.3
|
144.6
|
|
Essex
|
214.9
|
240.4
|
306.6
|
|
Gloucestershire
|
99.5
|
108.9
|
134.9
|
|
Greater London
|
1191.6
|
1073.3
|
1165.2
|
|
Greater Manchester PTE
|
454.9
|
439.4
|
500.6
|
|
Halton UA
|
17.7
|
18.6
|
22.2
|
|
Hampshire
|
189.0
|
217.9
|
283.9
|
|
Hartlepool UA
|
15.2
|
16.3
|
19.2
|
|
Herefordshire UA
|
31.6
|
36.2
|
47.5
|
|
Hertfordshire
|
161.4
|
174.3
|
211,5
|
|
Isle of Wight UA
|
32.7
|
33.1
|
40.9
|
|
Kent
|
250.5
|
257.7
|
313.7
|
|
Kingston upon Hull UA
|
46.7
|
45.4
|
47.3
|
|
Lancashire
|
211.8
|
215.1
|
260.4
|
|
Leicester UA
|
49.4
|
46.6
|
47.1
|
|
Leicestershire
|
90.0
|
104.3
|
137.8
|
|
Lincolnshire
|
111.7
|
131.6
|
176.2
|
|
Luton UA
|
22.9
|
24.2
|
30.8
|
|
Medway UA
|
34.6
|
35.3
|
45.3
|
|
Merseyside PTE
|
269.3
|
266.6
|
298.6
|
|
Middlesbrough UA
|
22.3
|
23.9
|
27.0
|
|
Milton Keynes UA
|
17.4
|
22.8
|
32.2
|
|
Norfolk
|
155.3
|
172.9
|
220.7
|
|
North East Lincolnshire UA
|
27.7
|
29.6
|
35.3
|
|
North Lincolnshire UA
|
25.2
|
28.8
|
36.7
|
|
North Somerset UA
|
37.4
|
40.2
|
50.6
|
|
North Yorkshire
|
107.7
|
115.5
|
146.0
|
|
Northamptonshire
|
92.7
|
99.7
|
128.6
|
|
Northumberland
|
57.1
|
60.6
|
76.2
|
|
Nottingham UA
|
50.2
|
47.6
|
46.5
|
|
Nottinghamshire
|
124.8
|
137.7
|
173.3
|
|
Oxfordshire
|
88.2
|
96.6
|
123.1
|
|
Peterborough UA
|
21.9
|
24.9
|
29.9
|
|
Plymouth UA
|
44.9
|
44.8
|
51.9
|
|
Poole UA
|
29.3
|
31.1
|
36.6
|
|
Portsmouth UA
|
37.5
|
34.2
|
35.7
|
|
Reading UA
|
21.9
|
21.2
|
23.3
|
|
Redcar and Cleveland UA
|
23.4
|
25.9
|
32.8
|
|
Rutland UA
|
5.2
|
6.1
|
9.0
|
|
Shropshire
|
49.8
|
56.4
|
73.8
|
|
Slough UA
|
15.0
|
15.7
|
18.0
|
|
Somerset
|
95.3
|
106.0
|
133.7
|
|
South Gloucestershire UA
|
31.0
|
37.7
|
52.1
|
|
South Yorkshire PTE
|
237.7
|
239.3
|
276.3
|
|
Southampton UA
|
37.8
|
37.6
|
40.1
|
|
Southend-on-Sea UA
|
39.7
|
36.0
|
38.3
|
|
Staffordshire
|
120.5
|
138.0
|
186.5
|
|
Stockton-on-Tees UA
|
25.2
|
29.2
|
37.1
|
|
Stoke-on-Trent UA
|
46.1
|
46.4
|
51.0
|
|
Suffolk
|
123.2
|
133.6
|
170.2
|
|
Surrey
|
188.4
|
195.1
|
233.2
|
|
Swindon UA
|
24.6
|
27.7
|
34.3
|
|
Telford and Wrekin UA
|
18.2
|
21.2
|
29.9
|
|
Thurrock UA
|
18.8
|
20.6
|
26.1
|
24 Oct 2006 : Column 1750W
|
Torbay UA
|
34.3
|
33.0
|
38.8
|
|
Tyne and Wear PTE
|
210.4
|
212.1
|
235.6
|
|
Warrington UA
|
28.5
|
30.6
|
39.5
|
|
Warwickshire
|
81.8
|
91.2
|
118.2
|
|
West Berkshire UA
|
18.8
|
21.3
|
28.1
|
|
West Midlands PTE
|
459.8
|
467.2
|
526.3
|
|
West Sussex
|
167.7
|
170.0
|
199.4
|
|
West Yorkshire PTE
|
363.4
|
363.1
|
417.3
|
|
Wiltshire
|
70.6
|
77.4
|
100.7
|
|
Windsor and Maidenhead UA
|
22.2
|
23.6
|
28.0
|
|
Wokingham UA
|
15.4
|
19.1
|
27.6
|
|
Worcestershire
|
84.6
|
97.7
|
129.2
|
|
York UA
|
32.4
|
34.0
|
40.6
|
