Government called to review funding for concessionary bus fares

02 April 2008

The Government is under increasing pressure to review funding arrangements for the concessionary bus fare scheme, which started this week.

The Association of Chief Co-ordinating Officers joined Liberal Democrat shadow transport secretary, Norman Baker, this week in calling for a review, after one year, of whether the funding for implementing the concessionary fares extension was sufficient. Baker called for a review ‘to establish whether or not the Government’s formula is fair’.

ATCO chair, Fran Garthwaite, of Essex County Council, agreed that it was going to be ‘a crucial year’. She told Surveyor: ‘We’d be able to see, after a year, how much it’s costing. It will all be down to how many journeys are made.’ But Rosie Winterton, minister for local transport, told MPs that the Government ‘believes the £1bn to be invested in concessionary fares is generous’ and that ‘there is no need for local authorities to cut the services that they provide’.

However, the Lib Dems claim Bristol City Council is facing a £1.4M shortfall, while councils are facing an average shortfall of £300,000. ‘The Government’s catastrophic handling of concessionary bus fares has left a settlement so tight that councils are cutting back bus services to pay for the scheme,’ said Baker.

‘It’s time for ministers to admit their mistakes and review the funding formula now.’ The House of Commons transport select committee this week slammed the Government’s ‘no better, no worse off’ mechanism for reimbursing bus operators, describing it as ‘arcane, time consuming and a recipe for dispute’.

The cross-party MPs called for a more transparent mechanism which ‘compensates operators and avoids the waste and rancour generated by the current system’.

The recommendation was backed by Neil Scales, chair of pteg. The committee also called on the DfT to commission an evaluation of the benefits of the scheme.

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Government called to review funding for concessionary bus fares

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