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Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 (Variation of Reimbursement and Other Administrative Arrangements) Order 2010

I understand that it is something that is possible with the special grant formula. However, if it would be of help to the noble Baroness, I will write to her with a more detailed explanation. The noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, raised the question of border journeys. As we have heard, this affects people living in, say, Craven Arms wanting to do their shopping across the border in Wales. The order does not impact on the ability of local authorities to implement discretionary cross-border schemes, other than that, from April 2011, changes to these schemes will need to be agreed with the relevant upper-tier authority in England rather than with the district authority. We hope, therefore, that people will be no worse off as a result. I turn to the question of "no better off and no worse off", also raised by the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw. I remind the Committee that travel concession authorities are required by law to reimburse bus operators for carrying concessionary bus travellers on the principle that the operators are no better off and no worse off by taking part in concessionary travel schemes. The existing reimbursement arrangements involve a need to make a number of assumptions and estimations with regard to matters such as average fares and the number of trips that would have taken place in the absence of a concession. This can make the negotiation of reimbursement terms quite complicated, as I am sure the noble Lord will recall from his days of running a railway and similar considerations applied there. The department is considering options for improving the current method of reimbursing bus operators for providing the statutory minimum concession, and we hope to implement any changes at the same time as the administrative reform in April 2011. My noble friend Lord Rosser asked about the senior railcard, while the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, in a most welcome intervention, raised the same issue. We are aware that there has been a lobby—led, I think, by the National Pensioners Convention and some trade unions—for the possibility of combining the senior railcard with the concessionary bus pass. I think that they had in mind, as my noble friend Lord Rosser indicated, that the senior railcard would effectively be merged with the concessionary bus pass, and the concessionary bus pass would carry with it the entitlement to the sort of discount on railway travel that the senior railcard does. Research was carried out on this in 2003 by Oxford Research, which indicated that journeys made by the senior railcard appear to be revenue abstractive, and become generative—worth while for the train operators—only if you include the revenue generated by the sale of the card. However, the Government are aware that there is great interest in this issue and that people are asking for the roles of the senior railcard and the concessionary bus pass to be considered. We are considering how best to take this forward and what further evidence might be required. The noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, raised the question of the Freedom Pass in London, which is available to all eligible older and disabled people whose sole or principal residence is in London. Residents outside London, but in England, are now eligible for the England-wide bus pass and therefore can use that pass to travel on buses when they visit London.