People entitled to concessionary fares on buses will be able to go one step further if councillors approve a St Edmundsbury Cabinet recommendation to open up free bus travel to anywhere in England 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But St Edmundsbury will be tackling the Government about a £250,000 shortfall in central funding this year, with a potential loss next year as well.
Cllr Terry Clements, Cabinet member responsible for Transport and Planning, said:
"The recommendation to offer free travel outside off-peak hours is good news for many people, but we need to be realistic about the cost to Council Tax payers. The Government grant falls far short this year and we are worried that exactly the same will happen next year. And as we have no way of knowing how many people will make use of next year's free travel scheme we cannot make an accurate estimate about costs in next year's budget.
"This is supposed to be fully-funded by Government but that's certainly not the case in St Edmundsbury."
St Edmundsbury was looking at staying with the Government's national scheme (which just covered free off-peak travel) but at this week's meeting the Cabinet decided to go one better. The decision came with a warning that the concessionary bus fares scheme - great news for those entitled to free travel and very popular - has an impact on local Council Tax payers because the Government grant for the scheme does not cover the full cost.
Last year the scheme allowed free bus travel anywhere in the county. A report to Cabinet said that take-up had exceeded expectations, leaving St Edmundsbury with an extra cost of £250,000 beyond the grant given by Government, which was £427,000.
The concessionary fares scheme was introduced in April 2006 and gave free travel to people who are disabled or over 60 years old. In St Edmundsbury there are nearly 12,000 concessionary fare pass holders who are entitled to free travel, with costs being met by the district council where passengers live.
ENDS
ISSUED BY MARIANNE HULLAND, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757034. marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk
