Fair Fare Funding

James Brokenshire has called on the Department for Transport to think again over plans to claw back £28 million of Government grant to help fund the Freedom Pass, London's concessionary fares scheme for over 60s travel on public transport. Responding to the formal consultation over the proposal to cut the special grant to London councils next year by nearly half, the MP said that unless the plans were changed they would be seen as a calculated move to penalise Londoners.

Commenting in his letter on the Government's proposals James said:

"If confirmed this will leave a significant and unexpected gap in the budgets of London boroughs which has not been provided for and which can only be met by cuts in other services or an increase in the council tax at a time when residents are already struggling with the recession. The timing of the proposed change is particularly problematic, given that London councils are struggling to finalise their budgets and have a significant new uncertainty with just a few weeks before approvals have to be given."

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 £58 million a year for three years as part of the introduction of the national concessionary bus scheme in England. But on 4 November 2009 the Department for Transport said that it was re-opening the third year of the funding settlement (2010/11), and launched consultation proposals to reallocate £28.6 million of London's special grant to other parts of the country. The impact of the change could be as much as £1 million to the budgets of councils like Bexley and Havering.

James Brokenshire has raised his concerns over the funding for the Freedom Pass on a number of previous occasions and despite fears that Ministers minds are already made up on the issue, his letter of representation has made a further call on the Government to go back and review their plans:

"London Council's assert that following the change envisaged by the consultation document, London would be the only part of the country where concessionary fares are not wholly funded by a combination of formula grant and special grant. Despite the Government's claim to be acting on the basis of fairness, on this basis the proposed arrangements would cause significant financial issues for London authorities and create a system where London council tax payers are put at a significant disadvantage. I would therefore urge the Department for Transport to think again."

The public consultation ends on 30 December 2009.

Details of the Department for Transport consultation document on the re-allocation of concessionary fares funding can be found by following the link set out below:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/specialgrantfunding/consultationdocument.pdf

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