Bus passes - unequal and at risk

A begrudged concession

There have in recent years been discontented mutterings in certain strands of the political classes who despise ordinary people receiving - as they see it - something for nothing. As most of us know, they now have TV licences for the over-75s in their sights, but some have been resentfully eyeing up concessionary bus passes as well.

National bus passes were introduced for everyone over 60 across the entire UK quite a few years ago now, though each is valid only within the UK nation in which you reside. For example, a Welsh pass is valid only in Wales.

What many people don't realise is that the attack on concessionary travel has already begun, but only for residents in England - not for those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In all of the UK, excepting England, you receive your national bus pass at 60. In England, you receive the national bus pass when you reach the female State Pension age, whether you're a man or a woman. For most people - and soon for all - this will be when they reach 66.

The inequality for the English doesn't end here. London residents get a pass for free travel on buses in London at 60, and Merseyside gives free travel on buses, trains and ferries within the county, also at 60. There may be other parts of England that make similar local offers, but I haven't heard of them.

An example of the cost of this discrepancy: if we take the standard bus fare in my area (£2.30), a person who catches the bus four times a week, perhaps for two return trips to the shops, will lose more than £2,800 through getting their pass at 66 instead of 60. Obviously, the more trips, the higher the cost.

An article on the NHS website in 2012 stated:

"Research [has] found that older people who had a free bus pass were more likely to take part in what the researchers describe as 'active travel'. The definition of active travel includes riding on a bus and activities such as walking and riding a bike. While not studied by the researchers, they did speculate that frequent active travel may have a positive effect on mood and mental health.

"This study comes at a time when the government is reportedly considering scrapping free travel for pensioners or making it means tested. It is useful to consider the contribution free bus passes may make to levels of physical activity among older people.

"Even a small amount of physical activity is known to reduce the risk of disability in older people. And, while the national free bus pass scheme is estimated to cost taxpayers around £1 billion a year, the annual health costs associated with disability and physical inactivity far outweigh that at an estimated £10.7 billion."

With the isolation of some elderly people being recognised as a growing social problem, especially with the decline of extended families, free travel is surely a significant part of any solution, and will help prevent people from declining into immobility, depression, or both, through being stuck in the house.

I despise the short-sighted, penny-pinching attitude of wealthy here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement*. That attitude has already created a real threat to passes because of major cuts in council funding since 2010: the Local Government Association warned last year that maintaining the pass is becoming "almost impossible".

The difference among the nations of the UK will be explained away by saying that bus passes are 'a devolved matter', but that doesn't apply in England which has been denied devolution. I do wonder hypothetically whether a devolved assembly in England would have taken the high-handed action on concessionary passes that the British government chose to impose upon the English.

I'm a resident of Merseyside and received my Merseytravel pass at 60. I still own a car, but my car use has at least halved since I acquired free local travel, and I know others who have stopped running a car altogether. There are environmental gains in encouraging people to use public transport, not by the stick of making motoring more expensive, but by the carrot of affordable public transport. Public and private transport both being expensive will simply increase isolation with its multiple associated problems.

We live in a society where many of our wealthy rulers believe that poverty is a consequence of indolence or bad choices and see no reason why such irresponsible behaviour (as they view it) should be rewarded. We should oppose any attacks on concessionary travel with the same vigour, and for very similar reasons, that we apply to attacks on the benefits system, caring services and the NHS. All such attacks have a common cause, and therefore require a common response.

Neville Grundy
ARMS

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* The sense of entitlement I refer to allows MPs and peers to:

• Eat and drink alcohol in taxpayer-subsidised bars and restaurants in Parliament.
• Claim expenses for items that the rest of us would have to meet out of our own pockets, such as TV licences.
• Claim the costs of mortgages on second homes in London - and then keep the home at the end of it all. Bought by us, thank you!

This list is by no means exhaustive!