Freedom Pass Funding Threat

Havering could end up having to make savings of as much as £1.8 million next year if the Government goes through with threatened plans to cut central funding for the Freedom Pass.  Hornchurch & Rainham MP James Brokenshire has written to the Department for Transport urging Ministers not to unpick the current three year deal to pay for the concessionary fares scheme after warnings that a Government grant to London is under threat.
The Freedom Pass allows Londoners aged 60 and over to travel free on the capital's buses, trains, London Underground, trams, and the Docklands Light Railway.  It costs around £240 million a year and is funded by a combination of central Government grant and council tax contributions from all London boroughs.  In 2008 the Government agreed to give a special grant to London of approximately £55 million a year for three years as part of the introduction of the national concessionary bus scheme in England. 
London Councils – the body which speaks on behalf of all London boroughs - has been told by the Department for Transport that Ministers are considering re-opening the arrangements because some councils outside of London have suffered losses as a result of the new national scheme.  If London’s special grant is reduced by as much as £50 million - as London Councils fears - it could mean that Havering will have an estimated £1.8 million hole in its 2010/11 budget that will have to be met by either increasing council tax or making difficult decisions on council services.  Ministers are expected to make a decision on the issue within days.
Commenting James Brokenshire said:
“The Freedom Pass is something I regard as a really important service for the over 60s and the Government tinkers with it at its peril.  Londoners already pay much more to fund concessionary fares than elsewhere in England and it’s a bit rich for Ministers to penalise the capital for problems caused by their own scheme in other parts of the country. 

“I’ve warned the Department for Transport that they shouldn’t unpick the current settled funding arrangements.  Taking grants away from London would be damaging for the Freedom Pass and potentially damaging for local services if unexpected savings have to be found in Havering’s budget.”

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