“Think again” on plans to withdraw travel help to elderly and vulnerable people in Southampton says Denham

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“Think again” on plans to withdraw travel help to elderly and vulnerable people in Southampton says Denham

By Southampton Labour ⋅ August 26, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment
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John Denham MP has written to the Department for Transport regarding the future of the Coach Concessionary Travel Scheme.

The Coach Concessionary Travel scheme provides half price coach travel for disabled people and those over 60 within England and Wales. Last year over 3 million journeys were made by passengers using the scheme on National Express coaches alone.

Unfortunately the scheme will end in October for England and Wales. Mr Denham is concerned about the impact this will have here in Southampton.

Therefore Mr Denham has written to Norman Baker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, to ask whether the Minister has taken into account the impact on vulnerable and elderly people travelling to Southampton.

Mr Denham said: “According to figures provided for me by the National Express Group plc, 71,000 passenger journeys begin or end in Southampton are made using the half-price concessionary fare. They rightly fear that the withdrawal of the scheme will lead not only to numbers of services reducing, but also the ability of vulnerable and elderly people to travel will reduce too.

“This is not fair. I want the Minister to think again.”

Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said: “The Tory-led government has made a great play of keeping concessionary bus passes for pensioners. Yet they are ending concessionary travel on coaches, meaning that thousands of people who use them as their only means of going on holiday or seeing relatives will have this option taken away from them. Ministers don’t seem to get that coaches serve as a vital link for pensioners and disabled people who are likely to be isolated and alone without their concessionary travel.

“For the pensioner who uses a coach for their once-a-year holiday trip, or the disabled person who has no other means of getting around, losing concessionary coach travel could greatly reduce their quality of life.

“This cut to coach services comes on top of reductions in bus services thanks to the Tory-led government’s decision to cut the transport budget too far and too fast. Funding for local bus services have seen an overall cut of £572 million, meaning that many pensioners with free bus passes will no longer have a bus to use them on.”

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