Memorandum from P G Rayner (TPT 44)
The Position as at Early March 2008.
A Personal View: P G Rayner.
Having been actively involved now for over 10
years I am mindful that in some senses "I know too much"
and have as a consequence tried to restrict this comment to essentials.
Firstly as the recent history is important if
one is to understand the development of concessionary travel it
should be noted for more than 20 years some communities have provided
free or reduced rate travel for their older citizens and for those
with mobility difficulties. However it was not until the Transport
Act 2000 that the half price bus fares were made mandatory and
some of the funding was provided centrally. This was received
with mixed feelings and immediately one could see that only those
authorities who believed in the value of such schemes implemented
the system without political back biting and resistance. This
has its roots in party politics but the pattern has never revealed
that to be too much of an influence for many places out of sympathy
with national government of the day have good and generous schemes.
So the Transport Act 2000 made some money available
but because that was a long time ago and the money was, and is,
mingled in with the general grants and not ring fenced it exists
but is frequently forgotten when the debates rage on how much
money this or that authority gets.
Next in 2002 the EU ruled that men should not
be discriminated against and be eligible aged 60 same as women
and money was also provided in the general grant and again not
ring fenced for that purpose. That equalising of gender had some
disbenefits for a considerable number of men were still at work
and used the pass to go to and fro, quite legally but it brought
forward the statement that the pass was essentially for leisure
and pleasure, provided for persons on a pensionable income. That
was the start of the "Perk" rather than "Freedom
Pass" as an essential right debate which I shall come back
to later.
In his Budget speech of 2005 the then Chancellor
announced free bus travel for pensioners to commence in April
2006 which is the scheme in operation as I sit here on a sunny
Sunday morning boring you all with this. Whilst it was well intentioned
and it would be churlish to complain the scheme did cause considerable
confusion. The key words "Bus Only" and "Local"
meant that different authorities interpreted it in different ways.
Some improved on that minimum, others restricted existing schemes
of value to pensioners to pay for the mandatory bus free pass
which they were obliged to provide. I have over 50 examples of
anomalies with regard to application covering many aspects of
the scheme but to list them would be of little value.
£212 million was the figure Central Government
put towards this and on funding again many arguments took place
about how fair or unfair the allocation was. Again I could quote
many examples, over 20 at least. Sufficient to say the money was
not ring fenced and it was used in different ways.
These problems are still ongoing but as it will
change yet again in a few weeks time I will move to the 2008 position.
In doing so may I remind you that NPC in the Pensioner Charter
says: "Free nationwide travel on ALL public and local
Transport".
Again in his Budget speech of 2006 the then
Chancellor announced free travel nationwide from April 2008. This
fundamental change required an Act of Parliament. We therefore
examined the Bill as it passed through both Houses of Parliament
and proposed for The Bus Concessionary Travel Bill (England) several
amendments to improve what we saw as shortcomings. One needs to
note the words "Bus" and "England" in the
title. We essentially wished to broaden the definition from Bus
to Public Service Vehicle but our efforts were in vain. We had
a number of other amendments and concerns but again space prevents
my listing them.
When it was clear we would get no change to
the Act I along with our President Frank Cooper was able to see
the Minister Rosie Winterton MP and leave with her and her advisers
a detailed document. Part of that document is given below so you
should see that we have tried to cover everything we can reasonably
cover without appearing too unappreciative of the intention.
There will still be no equality across the country,
and even across England. The exclusion of train, tram, Metro and
Underground means confusion and uncertainty when people with the
new Nationwide Bus Pass travel within large conurbations.
The potential exclusion of Dial-a-Ride/Taxi
Card from the concession remains a genuine concern, not withstanding
Clause 8 which suggests a future Secretary of State could add
entitlements and modes of transport. Many older and disabled people
are unable to use the buses for obvious reasons.
It is also unclear how the Government can agree
with another EU State (Republic of Ireland) on the issue of cross
border bus, train and tram travel for older persons, when the
arrangements with Wales and Scotland are unclear for bus only.
Likewise, the anomaly that enables a Northern
Ireland pensioner to cross into southern Ireland, but prevents
them from travelling within the rest of the UK, also needs to
be addressed.
Local authorities in tourist areas have claimed
they will receive insufficient additional funding for the new
scheme, because it ignores the extra demand that will be generated
by older tourists visiting the area. Teignmouth for example claim
they will receive £1.1 million, but need double. Is this
genuine concern part of the overall funding formula? NPC believes
local businesses in such resorts benefit from the influx of Pensioners
and this cross benefit should be recognised.
The NPC continues to have difficulty in reconciling
the claims of the former Secretary of State during debate that
free travel would be allowed, "...for example from Cornwall
to Cambridgeshire or from Durham to Dorset" with the
fact that coaches will only be obliged to provide the National
Concession where their routes have stops less than 15 miles apart.
It is also unclear whether Park and Ride or
Tour Buses are included in the concession.
The financial formula is clearly complicated
and open to different interpretations; which has lead to many
councils already using the pensioner travel issue as a reason
for possible Council Tax rises. However, evidence from Wales suggests
that there has been a 10% increase in paid for travel since the
introduction of free travel. Such cross benefits must therefore
be used more often to challenge costs.
The NPC also notes that pensioner free travel
on trains on the Heart of Wales's line and on the Conwy Valley
has doubled the passengers using the routes and some trains have
had to be increased in length. The Heart of Wales Forum stated:
"We are seeing over a 1,000 extra journeys a week and
by encouraging people to use Public Transport we achieve a number
of benefits. Firstly we provide mobility to the many that do not
have access to a car, and secondly we are bringing business to
the many small communities along the line who depend on tourism
and doing this without adding to road congestion". (Source:
Western Mail). The NPC is therefore concerned that more prominence
should be given to these multi modal benefits.
Travel to get to early GP and hospital appointments
(before 9.30 am) do need separate funding and separate finance.
Since the health of the nation's older people would improve with
the inclusion that free travel allows, then the health services
must either give later appointments or separately fund the travel.
There are a number of key issues upon which
the Act is unclear. For example Bus travel where there is more
than 15 miles between fare stage stops are not local travel. The
position on Dial a Ride and Taxi Card is unclear. Wales Scotland
and Ireland are excluded and yet enjoy themselves other benefits.
So from 1April 2008, three weeks time there will still be some
areas of uncertainty.
What is clear however is that the Act states
Nationwide (England) Bus only and after 9.30 am. In essence that
is what the government is funding and all the Act guarantees.
Another £250 million pounds is being allocated for this extra
pensioner movement outside their home localities. I know of course
that we all get something different, many of us because there
is no peak travel have no time restrictions, and others get Train,
Tram and Underground. Everywhere we look it is different.
What to me is the easiest way to describe the
position from April 2008 is to say that what you get in your home
location you are not entitled to when you travel away. Your local
Bus pass when you get say to London or Birmingham or Manchester
will still only get you on the buses and after 9.30 am. Likewise
the large conurbation pensioner when leaving London etc will only
get Bus only and after 9.30 am away from home.
Let's consider the funding since it is such
a contentious issue and the background to all the bad press and
misunderstandings. Remember the 2000 Act money is still in there
somewhere and along with the extra built into the grants for the
2002 "men equality of age eligibility" is also still
there somewhere. Add to that the £212 million for the existing
concessions and the £250 million extra for this April, some
ring fenced but not entirely and you have a right old muddle allowing
any politician, however straight and fair, to pray in aid shortages.
It is a melange of formulae and they do not know in my view where
they are. In addition there has always been some local money for
most council's value to some degree the older people in the community.
So that enables Government to say over a £1 billion is put
towards pensioner travel.
By querying and questions in an attempt to get
clarification we are in danger of being seen as ungrateful.
It is clear to me that there will be many places
where older people will be unsure of their entitlements at home
and away on 1 April. NPC will issue a clarification document and
this paper is a first attempt to get the factors down in one document.
Next the Bus Companies themselves are causing
a great deal of the problem. The Act intends that they should
break even and it says they should be "No Better No Worse"
as a consequence. But by the very way they calculate their fares,
by the different ways they issue their tickets and by the way
they have been able to alter routes and manipulate the market
under the deregulated structure that exists has meant they are
making money, and at the same time complaining they are not getting
enough. Almost impossible for us to prove our many examples are
valid for scrutiny.
Bus Companies have Public Affairs Managers and
Press officers and they can and do brief journalists, who will
happily run with scare stories. "Granny get your Coat"
etc etc. Our attempts to engage national press has been not very
successful and in any case it is mostly the local papers that
do the damage. Councils who mistrust or dislike national government
and who either do not understand the detail of the finance, or
do not want to, also brief the press against us. So it is a problem.
It is best tackled locally so where it comes
to notice in your local area of buses altering services, claiming
for longer journeys than actual travel. Bring it to the notice
of your council and importantly the press, write letters, get
petitions but be sure of your facts. Where NPC can help we will
back you up with quotes.
Let me list a few of the sensation seeking items
that the press has used. Public Toilets to shut to fund pensioner
travel. Pensioners joyride means people cannot get to work as
the buses are full. Council Tax to go up, other groups in receipt
of concessionary fares will lose their entitlement. Many and varied
are the stories.
Seaside towns, and other tourist centres despite
spending millions on advertising their facilities to get people
to visit, have the cheek to say the funding for visitors is insufficient.
So we are up against it. It's a dog's breakfast
and no other large organisation is fighting. Help the Aged and
Age Concern and others are all relatively non critical. Some even
encourage taking £37 of Tokens rather than the Pass, which
may suit some very restricted people but is of far less value
if one travels away from home. How therefore do we proceed? My
stance is not that we have a "Right to Free Travel"
because we are old, but that we contribute to society and we therefore
have a "Case for Free Travel" to make.
We need to be able to list those benefits so
that our travel cannot be dismissed as a perk. It is easy to see
Pensions, Health, Carers, Carer's Allowances as rights. But free
travel can be less easily justified.
A sample list of advantages to society to make
our case are:
— Transport has a major part to play
in enabling older people to continue to live in their own homes
and participate fully in the life of their local community.
— The presence of pensioners in the
town centres is good for local business.
— Older people travelling out of peak
times can improve the marginal costs of services and thus retain
services to the good of the community as a whole.
— The need for transport increases
with age. The use of cars for short journeys is a high pollution
factor and an accessible free transport system would solve both
problems.
— There is a proven link between improved
health and the ability to be included in the community rather
than isolated at home.
— The administrative cost of the many
different schemes, which takes up several hundreds of administrators
and revenue protection people issuing tickets and tokens, could
for the most part be saved by a central scheme.
— Older people could provide unpaid,
well informed persons to contribute to committees on services,
mobility and other older peoples' issues. By this we do not mean
more attendance at "Stakeholder Groups", but real inclusion,
involvement and participation.
— In Wales it has been proved that
"paid for" travel has increased by as much as 10%.
— Marginal costs on some routes can
be improved and the service retained for all.
We should stress we do not believe we are asking
for an uneconomic alternative. Older people do not want charity
and something for nothing. Older people for the most part have
contributed to society and in their retirement if they are "included"
will feel they are still able to contribute by that inclusion.
Apart from the contribution to the debate on
travel arrangements, ie access to vehicles and premises, vehicle
design, staff training, location of pick up points etc, there
are many other subjects on which Older Persons and Disabled people
could contribute. To my personal knowledge there are many older
people on voluntary work—Samaritans being one such example,
or another case where an older person is passing on his skills
by teaching woodwork to blind people.
There is a vast untapped resource out there
and if the Government recognised the cross departmental benefits
that accrue from the Freedom Pass—to health, to increased
economic activity, to voluntary work and had the political will
to achieve those desirable things—Mobility is the key.
Best of luck in your local campaigns. Sorry
for the length of this document but it is produced so we can get
out a brief and Press Release for the 1 April 2008 launch.
March 2008
| 
