Written question asked by Ben Wallace (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 January 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 January 2007. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 January 2007 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Concessionary Fares

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has given to concessionary fares schemes for (a) pensioners and (b) disabled people in Lancashire by (i) borough councils and (ii) county councils.

Answer: From April this year, older and disabled people have been guaranteed free off-peak local bus travel within their local authority area. The Government provided an extra £350 million in 2006-07 and will provide a further £367.5 million in 2007-08 to fund the extra costs to local authorities. The funding for concessionary fares is provided through formula grant and is unhypothecated; therefore it is not separately identified for each local authority.

Secondary information