I have wasted half my computer allocation time today just trying to find some basic government information about bus passes.
It was only after I had, with the help of the Public Politics.net, found that, in the jargon, this is “Special Grant Funding 2010-11 (National Bus Concession)” that I was able to track down the relevant documents on the Department for Transports own website. I have given up, for now, trying to find the relevant background statistics on the Communities & Local Government website – they are secrets that, like their cousins on the ONS website, are not going to be yielded up easily.
But, since those figures are just one small part of the vast array of local government financial statistics, without much relevant detail, the transport department is now hoping that they will be able to start a new collection of data to provide:
- Quarterly returns on year-to-date actual spending on the statutory minimum concession
- Quarterly returns on full-year forecast spending on the statutory minimum concession
- Annual returns detailing the reimbursement arrangements entered into with bus operators, including details of revenue reimbursement rates, additional cost arrangements, average fare data and concessionary bus patronage data.
I am astonished that such arrangements were not put in place when the new ‘go gallivanting anywhere’ national pass for pensioners was introduced last year.
These passes have led to a very marked increase in bus travel round our way. People who, two years ago, would have considered that buses were only for losers, now have a real ‘if it’s free, I’m having some’ attitude, & hence have learned the benefits of the bus. So much so that it can be difficult to get a seat some days. It’s déjà vu – those pesky little brothers & sisters (the post-war baby spikers) coming & spoiling it all for us again!
The government remains confident that the overall level of funding is right, but that the distribution between authorities may have gone awry, & so are proposing changes to the distribution for next year.
I was thinking about this after finding out that we are to have new buses with new ticketing machines which will know exactly where you got on, through the use of GPS. If this is, eventually, combined with an ability to read the individual pass, & if comparable technology is adopted by all, then the government will have access to more information than it can dream of now. Used imaginatively, it could provide a way of ‘means testing’ the provision of this benefit without a vast array of rules, regulations & filling in forms about your income. For example there might be a basic free allocation which could be topped up at concessionary rates for those who wish to travel more. Or it could be used to make all travel to the hospital free, with small charges for other trips. Major supermarkets could offer top ups to those who travel to their stores by bus.
The extra cost of the ‘go anywhere’ element which is what was added to the basic local travel concession last year, is about £220million annually. Given the mobility, independence, mental & social stimulation which it brings to anyone who can just get themselves to the bus stop, it is cheap at the price.
Link
Special Grant Report (No. 129) Department for Transport Local Government Finance (England)
