Forum Topic

FREEDOM PASS - PETITION TO KEEP IT - FOR SIGNING AND PASSING TO OTHERS

There appears to be a real and sudden new danger to the Freedom Pass in London.  Downing Street needs to be sent as many signatures as possible on this petition. For those not so old, you might consider  that your time will come!Open the link at the bottom to sign the petition to keep the freedom pass, and send this on to anyone you can think of The three-year funding deal for the Freedom Pass agreed between Government and London's Councils in 2008 has been re-opened by theDepartment for Transport which is seeking ways to cut costs. As a result, London is set to lose £29m (half its agreed funding for  2010-11). Leaders of London's Boroughs are opposed to this re-opening of the  previously agreed three-year funding deal, and have said that, although they will endeavour to protect the Freedom Pass, the money will have to  be found SOMEWHERE. THERE IS CONCERN THE AXE MAY FALL ON THE FREEDOM  PASS, OR AT LEAST SOME ASPECTS OF IT. A Petition has been organised to demand that the Prime Minister  intervene to protect the Freedom Pass's funding, and every London resident who might be affected is urged to sign it. It has been  submitted by Barry Macleod-Cullinane of London Councils, and the wording on 10 Downing Street website reads- We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to intervene to secure  the Freedom Pass by protecting the previously agreed level of concessionary travel funding for London, for 2010-11, from the proposals  currently being consulted on by the DfT that would cut £29m of agreed funding for the boroughs, following the DfT's re-opening of a 30year funding deal in its third year. The deadline for signing this Petition is January 29, 2010 and,  currently over 6,000 signatures have been attached, but this is unlikely to be enough so if you feel inclined, DO join by using this  link:   http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/29m4freedompass/

Libby Kemp ● 6129d8 Comments

At a meeting of Hounslow Council last night the following was endorsed by all Councillors except all the Labour Councillors  present;“This Council calls on the Government to secure the Freedom Pass by protecting the previously agreed level of concessionary travel funding for London, for 2010-11 from the proposals currently being consulted on by the Department for Transport (DfT) that would cut £29 million of agreed funding for the boroughs, following the DfT’s re-opening of a three year funding deal in its third year.”Cllr Ruth Cadbury (Labour)spoke against the motion, and amongst other things, conceded that LBH would have to incur additional costs because of the Govt reduction in grant although disputing the sum involved.Council tax payers pick up the tab- again

John Todd ● 6126d

Council tax payers have been picking up the tab for Freedom Passes since the abolition of the GLC in 1986, John. If anyone is interested, here’s a bit of history.London Boroughs are obliged to offer free travel in London for older residents thanks to the GLA Act 1999. This Act only applied to London and only entitled London residents to free travel. However, in April 2008 “All England Bus Travel” was introduced, entitling all residents (above the age of 60, or disabled) of England to a free annual bus pass giving free off-peak travel on local buses anywhere in England. This meant that any English resident (rather than just London residents) could travel on London buses for free. Of course, the introduction of “All England Bus Travel” meant increases in costs for Local Authorities where they have had to subsidise additional free bus travel. A Special Grant was set up solely to help local authorities meet these costs. This funding is entirely separate from Freedom Pass funding, as the Freedom Pass is only available to London residents. The only increase in costs faced by London boroughs was the cost of non-Londoners travelling on London buses for free. It is now clear there have been far fewer extra costs for non-Londoners traveling on London buses trips than anticipated. As a result, the total Special Grant allocated for London for the first two years has been approximately £100 million more than the “All England Bus Travel” scheme has cost London. As a result, some London Boroughs have actually made a profit on the Special Grant. None of the Councils refunded this windfall at the time, and they are not being asked to do so now. In the next financial year the Government proposes to give London a Special Grant of approximately £30 million.  You may be interested to know that between 2008-09 “All England Bus Travel” cost London between £4.1 million and £5.1 million and cost £6.7 million between 2009-2010. So even if the cost of the new concessions double between 2010-2011 (which is very unlikely), London would still have a £10 million surplus!It’s worth repeating that cutting London’s Special Grant payment is completely separate from the funding of the Freedom Pass and thus has no impact on the provision or funding of the Freedom Pass. Which is why the motion was wrong in fact and why we voted against it. Best regardsMatt HarmerBrentford ward cllr

Matt Harmer ● 6126d

Dear Matt,Who wrote that script?Your colleague Cllr Cadbury (Labour) agreed, whatever the fascinating explanation, that LBH would have an additional cost of £800k to find. Others say circa £1.5m. Matt, where do we get this additional funding from-so late in the day?Matt, Why was this borough denied additional funding for additional school places? You and your colleagues have seen the need. Education is important to us.Matt, Why such a low percentage council tax grant/settlement as well? Others get so much more.I reckon this administration has saved each council tax payer in the region of £7-800 over the last three years by not increasing this tax. I understand that in the previous 30 odd years whilst under Labour rule, LBH always always increased the council tax. What's Labour explanation, excuse-projections?RegardsJohn

John Todd ● 6123d

After reading this thread I wrote directly to Mr Sadiq Khan MP and got a very detailed letter back from him.I will only reproduce one paragraph from the letter, as it’s long and detailed."I would like to repeat that cutting London’s Special Grant payment is completely separate from the funding of the Freedom Pass. Again I am committed to maintaining the Freedom Pass in London and free bus travel for older people across England and would oppose any attempts to see them removed."By the information in the letter, all London Councils have enough money to fiancé the freedom pass and there will be no justification in cutting services or raising council tax to fund it.

Paul Allen ● 6121d

PaulWhy  do we, LBH have to find £1m or £800k-per Cllr Cadbury Labour?

John Todd ● 6121d

JohnI think it’s to do with the “All England Bus Travel” scheme that approximately £100 million Special Grant was given to help local authorities meet the extra cost where they subsidise additional free bus travel for people from outside London for the first two years.This funding is entirely separate from the freedom pass funding, as the Freedom Pass is only available to London residents.But it seems there was a lot less subsidised additional costs accrued by local authorities in subsidising the All England Bus Travel, so in the next financial year the Special Grant will be approximately £30 million.But as I see it the Freedom Pass for Londoners is funded the same as before and shouldn’t require any additional funding by local authorities.As I am only an ordinary man in the street so to speak I cannot see why extra funding would be required for the freedom pass.The only thing I can think of, is that the local authorities don’t agree with the amount of the Special Grant for subsidising people from outside London travelling on the bus in London

Paul Allen ● 6121d

It's all very well for Sadiq Khan to say that he's trimming the Special Grant because it's too high, but there are other grants for other things where the amount doesn't cover the actual costs incurred by local councils.  It's always been like that, and councils have to manage within whatever miscalculated grants the government dole out to them.  The problem in this case is that the decision, whatever its merits, was made so late in the day when councils' budget planning for next year was well advanced.  This was an agreed 3-year grant that has been slashed, subject to a very short consultation period, meaning that councils suddenly find their budget plans have an extra shortfall.  I'm not surprised that they have objected strongly.  It's the councils who now have the difficult decisions to make, not Mr Khan.

Richard Jennings ● 6121d

Richard, why don’t you write or email Mr Sadiq Khan with the points you are making in your post.He seems to be a very approachable MP and even answers question from residents in other boroughs in a short space of time. 

Paul Allen ● 6121d