OAP bus fares 'hard to bear' (From Banbury Cake)

OAP bus fares 'hard to bear'

8:13am Thursday 28th August 2008

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The concessionary bus fare scheme has proved so popular with pensioners it could take Oxford City Council £400,000 over budget.

And paying for an explosion in the number of bus journeys made by OAPs could lead to pressure on other services.

Deputy city council leader Ed Turner said the authority had budgeted about £2m to cover the cost of the new scheme.

A concessionary scheme has been in operation for years, but from April 1 pensioners have been able to travel where they like within England and Wales.

This has meant the council now has to subsidise thousands of journeys from pensioners travelling to the city from outside the area.

Under the new arrangements, if a pensioner travels into Oxford from Abingdon, for example, the city council has to pay the return journey.

Mr Turner said: "The concessionary fares scheme has been a brilliant Labour innovation and it's great for pensioners, but as a local authority we have not been properly compensated for it.

"The scheme has been so popular that it looks set to take us £400,000 over budget, and that puts pressure on other services.

"We have consistently lobbied for a fairer solution, particularly for surrounding districts and the Government to pay a fairer share.

"At the moment, city council taxpayers end up paying for a lot of journeys made by pensioners living outside the city."

The issue will be discussed by city councillors on Tuesday.

In the past three years, the city council has been forced to make savings totalling about £7m - 25 per cent of its net budget.

Mr Turner added: "In a climate where the council is having to make significant savings already, the additional concessionary fares burden is hard to bear."

Louisa Weeks, operations director for Oxford Bus Company, said: "We are delighted more people are enjoying travelling by bus.

"There has been an increase in people using concessionary passes, but some of those would have paid the normal adult price before the scheme went nationwide."

Oxford pensioners' spokesman Bill Jupp said: "Perhaps the Government could make a greater allowance for local authorities in areas considered tourist attractions.

"If the burden falls too heavily on one authority then it could set alarm bells ringing and this free travel is one of the few perks that pensioners have."

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