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Bus passes for the over sixties

“This Association in Conference assembled urges Her Majesty’s Government to uphold the right to keep the bus pass for the over sixties.”

North West Promotional Team,

2014

LGA say support for concessionary fares have been reduced by a third since 2010 under the scheme the local councils have to provide off peak travel for those over 62 and the disabled. The current level of funding is protected till 2015/16. The cost of funding has been cut by £261 million since the coalition government came to power. It was reported in mid-2012 by Mr Cameron that if returned in 2015 he would legislate to abolish the pass in its present form. The huge social, economic, health and well-being benefits of the pass are at risk. Politicians of all parties need to understand that they attack the bus pass at their electoral peril.
Example: A lady whose son is in a residential home miles from where she lives has a journey which involves a bus to the local train station, a train to Lime Street Station in Liverpool another train to Southport and then a bus to the care home – the return journey in reverse. If she did not have her free travel pass she would have to rely on family to take her when they could or she would have to visit less often due to the cost of fares. The current cost of bus and train fares is in the region of £15 per trip.

If the free travel pass is withdrawn many would not leave their homes as they do now. They know they can get up in the morning, get ready and go out for a few hours or all day to meet friends, do shopping or visit places of interest. All this keeps body and mind fit and active and in our view makes them a lesser burden on the NHS.  Staying indoors all day, sometimes without heating due to the high cost of this utility, contributes to poor mental and bodily health and can put a strain on the already stretched NHS. Many pensioners use their passes to attend day clubs, whilst out they are not having to use their own heating so the loss of the free bus pass can have more consequences than people realise.

The far reaching consequences of pensioners having to cut down on journeys because of cost could affect their general stress levels and well-being due to isolation from their local community. Many pensioners have hospital appointments and visits, and as many hospitals are out of town the free bus pass enables them to get there independently and not to have to rely on family, friends or ambulance services. The economy and businesses of local towns would without doubt suffer, buses potentially could be reduced due to lack of passengers and therefore employment would also be affected.

Reply from:- Department for Transport
Firstly, there are no plans to either withdraw the statutory entitlement to concessionary bus travel or to introduce means testing to assess eligibility for the scheme. The right to a free bus travel for both older and disabled people is enshrined in primary legislation and in the 2010 Spending Review the Chancellor of The Exchequer confirmed the Government’s commitment to preserving the current statutory entitlement to concessionary bus travel in this parliament. Local buses are the most commonly used mode of public transport of the older person and the free local bus travel England-wide ensures that the elderly and disabled need not be prevented from bus travel by cost alone.  Indeed the free transport aids these groups to take advantage of health services and visiting family and friends.

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December Update

2020 is a year none of us will forget in a hurry but as it draws to a close we would like to update you with the current situation as far as Head Office is concerned. The office is now closed until after Christmas but Claire, our secretary, is working from home.

It has been a very strange year with no events, no clubs, no getting together. All our events had to be cancelled, and though we are no different to any other organisation it has been such a pity because this is what we are about friendship, education and fun. On the positive side we have worked hard getting out letters to as many members as we could with the help of club officials. They have been brilliant keeping in touch with their members through emails, ‘WhatsApp’ and phone calls they all deserve a star!

With the moving into different tiers it sometimes gets very confusing and loneliness has been talked about a lot on the television and the media but we hope through the clubs this has not affected our members too much. With the hope of a vaccine it might not be too long before we are back and enjoying our club life again and remember after December 21st the days start to get longer and Spring will be around the corner.

Here at Head Office Eleanor retired at the end of September, Eleanor had told us of her plans at the beginning of the year so we had plenty of notice but of course we could not have the retirement party she was entitled to. However, we are hoping she will come to conference next year and we can say farewell properly. We did send flowers on the day and Mary, our treasurer made her a collage of all our good wishes, and it was beautiful.

If you are looking at our website for the first time look at the list of clubs and see if we have one near you, they are friendly places to go to. Most meet once a week with speakers, demonstrations and outings. Each club is different and if there isn’t one in your area, why don’t you start one!  We honestly think our sort of club is just what the women of our country needs right now.  We are a non-political, non-religious and non- sectarian group that offers friendship and interest. Take a look at this website and see what we have to offer.

So Christmas is coming and what a difference to the one we probably envisaged, but remember ladies we might not be able to party as we have in the past but if we keep safe we can celebrate next year with family and friends. 

So on behalf of The Committee to all our members and whoever is looking at this website, we wish you all a Merry Christmas, keep well and let’s look forward to a better New Year.