Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Concessions may only be offered to groups identified within national regulations
although authorities may choose to be more selective.
In principle all operators of registered bus services have the right to participate in
an s93 scheme within their area although there is provision for exemptions, e.g. for
tourist or express services. Likewise authorities have the power to enforce participation
on operators. Authorities may choose to offer concessions on modes other than local
bus services but in these cases the rights of participation and powers of compulsion do
not apply.
The basis of reimbursement should be that operators are 'no better and no worse
off' as a result of participation in the scheme. Hence they are paid for the revenue
forgone as a result of issuing concessionary fares and for any additional costs which can
be demonstrated (e.g. through having to provide additional capacity). This requires
estimates to be made of the number of concessionary trips, the full-fare equivalent of
these trips (or at least an average fare) and a generation factor (to identify the number
of additional trips which are made as a result of the concession being available). The
methods which may be employed in this are explained in DfT (2005a).
Achieving an accurate estimate of the appropriate amount of reimbursement for each
operator participating in an authority's scheme is potentially an extremely complex and
costly undertaking. In practice the amount decided on is more a matter of negotiation
settled to the satisfaction of the parties involved. Operators have the right of appeal
to the Secretary of State for Transport if they consider they are being inadequately
reimbursed. The level of reimbursement is frequently a bone of contention, in part
because the starting point of operators and local authorities is fundamentally different.
Local authorities are under a duty to follow the 'no better, no worse off' principle but
operators have no such scruples - they have a commercial incentive to utilise whatever
evidence and argument will secure them maximum payment.
In addition to these discretionary powers central government has legislated
that certain concessions must be made available and, in principle at least, is paying
individual authorities for the additional costs incurred. Initially, under the Transport
Act 2000 authorities had to provide for half-price bus fares as a minimum during off-
peak periods for concessionary travel within the authority's area. (This reflected a
commitment given in the 1998 White Paper towards 'a fairer, more inclusive society'.)
Subsequently this requirement was extended so that, as from April 2006, such travel
would be free. A further extension has been introduced under the Concessionary Bus
Travel Act 2007 which requires the free travel concession to be available anywhere in
England from April 2008.
These moves follow previous decisions by the Scottish Parliament and Welsh
Assembly to provide for free concessionary bus travel in their countries which were
early examples of their use of devolved powers. However whereas in Scotland and
Wales reimbursement is organised centrally, in England it continues to be administered
by individual authorities which causes considerable practical difficulties (LTT 458).
The 2007 Act does include clauses which will allow the Secretary of State to take
over responsibility for reimbursement at some point in future without further primary
legislation. It also enables the SoS to take powers to determine how operators should
be reimbursed (i.e. not as a matter of negotiation), and to extend the availability of a
national concession to 16-18 year olds in full-time education and to modes other than
local bus services.
On the face of it concessions are most important to safeguarding the accessibility
of people with low incomes, yet low income or unemployment do not figure in the
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