Written question asked by Nicholas Brown (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 February 2006. It was answered by Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour) on Wednesday, 15 February 2006 on behalf of the Treasury.

Free Bus Travel

Question: (2) how the sum of money allocated to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to cover the cost of the free bus travel policy announced in the Budget was calculated;

Answer: The Government are providing an extra £350 million for 2006–07 through the Formula Grant system which will be sufficient to fund the cost to local authorities, as set out in Budget 2005. Local authorities were fully consulted by The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the distribution by a new formula and received very few representations against. Decisions on the distribution of local government grant for 2006–07 and 2007–08 were made as part of the local government finance settlement, approved by this house on 6 February 2006.The £350 million included reimbursement to operators for lost income, additional costs due to the increase in generated users, the reimbursement of authorities already offering free off-peak local bus travel, and inflation.A small number of representations have been received regarding the Budget 2005 announcement of an increase in concessionary fares. However, these have concentrated on the method of distribution as opposed to the calculation of the £350 million allocated.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 442 c2162-3W;442 c2162-3W; 51467
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Bus services Costs Buses Concessions Fares Finance Local government finance
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk