Nexus has set out the level of cuts in services necessary to fund free bus travel for pensioners, if a £7.3m shortfall in funding for the initiative is not filled by the Government.
Nexus has set out the level of cuts in services necessary to fund free bus travel for pensioners, if a £7.3m shortfall in funding for the initiative is not filled by the Government.
Scholars’ services, travel discounts for children, students and the disabled, special care buses and secured services running through housing estates are all under threat in budget options drawn up by Nexus for the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority (PTA).
In some cases this will mean pensioners receiving the benefit of free travel in April on the same day their local bus service is withdrawn to pay for the measure.
The PTA meets on January 26 to set a budget for 2006/07 and councillors are still hopeful of winning extra financial support from the Government.
Tyne and Wear has received the worst financial settlement in the country in grants provided to pay for the cost of free travel for pensioners with local concessionary passes, announced by the Chancellor in March 2005.
This reflects the fact that the area has among the highest level of public transport use by pensioners in the country, which must be subsidised by Nexus in payments to private bus operators.
The current 75% take-up of concessionary passes – compared to a national average of 49% – is expected to rise further after April 1.
Councillor David Wood, chairman of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority, said councillors face making very difficult decisions.
He said: "It is absurd that in April pensioners will be getting free travel just as local services they rely on are being withdrawn to pay for it. This cannot be what the Government intended."
"For pensioners free travel is a good thing. However, we know many pensioners will be unhappy that while they are getting free travel, others will suffer increased fares and reduced services."
“Despite the fact we have worked hard to convince the DfT and ODPM of the likely impact they have still left Tyne and Wear residents to face the burden."
"Tyne and Wear is a unique case because of the high number of pensioners who use public transport. It has received the worst financial settlement in the country as a result. We are still hopeful the Government will recognise this."
Mike Parker, Director General of Nexus, said:"“Years of hard work building up public transport in Tyne and Wear is at risk because Concessionary Travel is not being funded properly. We are faced with the real prospect of free travel on buses for pensioners, but much reduced services for everyone - to schools, shops and medical centres, and in the areas that need it most."
"The cuts in services we have been forced to draw up will make a real difference to people’s lives. We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact and protect those most dependent on public transport."
"The PTA and Nexus will continue to lobby and protest in the strongest possible terms - to ensure the cuts impact on the least number of users, and for a better settlement - to the Government, working with local authorities, bus companies and pensioner groups."
Talks are still continuing with the Government to resolve the situation. Nexus and the PTA have also been backed by the North East Pensioners’ Association, who have pledged to take up the funding shortfall with local MPs and ministers.
David Clelland, the MP for Tyne Bridge, has already raised the issue of Concessionary Travel in Tyne and Wear with the Prime Minister.
He said: “Tyne and Wear is a unique case. It has the worst financial settlement in the country. People in my constituency are set to suffer severe cuts where other parts of the country are due to get too much money.
"The formula means that while there is a £7.3m shortfall for this area, West Sussex will receive £2m more than it needs to provide free bus travel for pensioners and Cambridgeshire £1.5m."
“I am currently in urgent discussion with ministers in the hope of resolving this problem, even at this late stage.”
Nick Brown, the Newcastle East MP, said: "Tyne and Wear is losing out because we have more people using buses than the national average, and a lower level of car ownership. That is why it is so important that we find a way to make up the gap."
"We need to sort this out, because as things stand people who need public transport most – children, the disabled, and pensioners themselves – will lose out because of the cuts Nexus will be forced to put forward."
Details of potential cuts in services are set out in four options for bridging the funding gap that will be considered by councillors on the PTA when setting the budget for 2006/07.
Two of the options include using £2m from reserves – an option that will only be available for one year, meaning further cuts are necessary in the following years unless the Government acts.
The PTA is due to set a budget on January 26, based on the options supplied by Nexus.
NOTES The Government has provided Tyne and Wear with £12.7 million to meet the cost of free Concessionary Travel for pensioners and the disabled on buses in April 2006/07. This settlement was confirmed in December.
The total estimated cost of free travel has been estimated by Nexus at £20 million. This leaves a shortfall of £7.3 million which Nexus has sought to find from other parts of the budget.
Further details will be available at a press conference tomorrow at Nexus House in Newcastle. Tyne and Wear PTA Chairman David Wood will be available for interview along with Nexus Director General Mike Parker and representatives of pensioner groups and pensioners.
Date 11 January 2006
For more information contact Iris Boyd telephone (0191) 211 5071
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