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Transport Innovation Fund

I have to disappoint the hon. Gentleman. The transport innovation fund is not intended to fund concessionary travel of the sort to which I think he refers. I know that he had hoped to be in the Chamber at Transport questions to raise that point last time, but unfortunately he could not—I do not know whether the ferry held him up. Concessionary travel might be part of an overall strategy, but the hon. Gentleman asked specifically whether the fund could be used to support such travel—like the £350 million that the Chancellor has allocated for concessionary travel for pensioners—and the answer is, no, that is not what it is intended to do. I am well aware of the fact that not everyone in the UK lives on one island. I do not live on an island, but I know an island well and it is expensive to cross the sea to go there, so I understand that point perfectly. The hon. Gentleman will know that under successive Governments ferry fares are not always based on what it would cost to drive along a road—but there are other benefits to living on an island, as I am sure he knows.