By Paul Maynard MP - 18th October 2011
Paul Maynard MP says that extending the use of the bus pass to community transport services in addition to public services will not only deliver fairness, but will also safeguard services.
Politicians from across the political divide will be aware of the value constituents attach to concessionary fares. For old age pensioners and those with disabilities it contributes to a freedom in their daily lives which many of the rest of us take for granted.
But I believe there is one particular imbalance in the application of the legislation which I am seeking to address via my Ten Minute Rule Motion - community transport services do not benefit from the statutory benefits of the concessionary card scheme, as set out in the 2007 Concessionary Bus Travel Act. This imbalance is not one I believe the framers of the original legislation necessarily intended.
The crux of my proposal is that any person unable to make use of their concession on existing eligible transport services as a result of disability, age or other limiting factor should be permitted to use it on other transport services, with the operators of those services being reimbursed by the administrators of the local concessionary travel scheme.
All eligible passengers should receive equal access to services. However, the provision of this fair level of service to currently excluded individuals must not adversely affect the level or quality of service enjoyed by existing passengers.
Community transport ranges from dial-a-ride service, Wheels to Work schemes for apprentices, demand-responsive bus routes, and community car schemes. My proposals focus on those services provided under Section 19 of the 1985 Transport Act. This allows not-for-profit organisations to charge passengers for providing transport to the people whom the organisation serves, without the need to obtain a public service vehicle operator's license. It applies to any not-for-profit body associated with educational, religious, social welfare, recreational and other activities of benefit to the community.
Able-bodied pensioners who can use the buses get the concessionary fare. But there are disabled pensioners who cannot use the buses, who cannot even make it to the bus stop perhaps, and they have to rely on dial-a-ride services, demand-responsive services or other community transport services. And they must pay their own way.
Across the country there are certain local authorities who provide a subsidy for community transport services but this is sporadic. This imbalance between geographical areas seems not only unfair but contrary to the spirit of equality and of human dignity.
In Blackpool the excellent Rideability charity requires all service users to be members. Any member can then have 'half-fare' services on presentation of their concessionary NOWcard with a blue stripe, and any disabled person in possession of a concessionary NOWcard with an orange stripe must pay a flat 50 pence per single passenger trip.
Even as we speak, Blackpool Council is looking to review the continued existence of the Rideability charity which they subsidise to the tune of £112,000 a year, and bring it in-house. The likely impact of that would be to restrict individual spontaneity to between the hours of 11 and 3 when the Council’s existing special needs transport is not in use.
The government have already made £10m available to local councils to sustain community transport, so that in itself indicates a pre-disposition amongst the Coalition government to support the provision of community transport services where possible.
Additionally, it is worth bearing in mind that there are at least 60,000 community transport volunteers enabling these services to run. An extension of the concessionary travel card scheme along the lines I have set out would benefit card holders, allow volunteers to continue making a vital difference to peoples' lives, and support the government's clear commitment to the principle of community transport in all its forms.
Paul Maynardhas been Conservative MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys since 2010
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