Concessionary Travel - Eligible Services Changes

From 1 April minor changes are being made to the eligibility criteria for which services are included in the mandatory concession.

The changes are intended to clarify the existing eligibility criteria and have been well received by operators and local authorities who have been consulted throughout.

The changes will explicitly exclude certain types of service that are outside of the spirit of the mandatory national concession, reducing potential for any confusion over whether a service is eligible.

Local authorities will be able to offer concessionary travel on any service affected by the changes on a discretionary basis.

The changes will not affect how much funding local authorities receive for concessionary travel.

Question & Answer

General

What changes are being made? 

The following types of services will be explicitly excluded from the mandatory concession:

• Services on which the majority of seats can be reserved in advance of travel (such as coaches);
• Services that are intended to run for a period of less than 6 consecutive weeks;
• Services operated primarily for the purposes of tourism or because of the historical interest of the vehicle.
• Bus Substitution (rail replacement) services;
• Services where the fare charged by the operator has a special amenity element.

Why are these changes being introduced?

The current eligibility criteria were introduced in 2002, when the mandatory concession was for half price travel within a local authority area. The introduction of England - wide concessionary travel in particular has put the eligibility criteria under greater scrutiny and concerns have been raised that some services which are not within the spirit of the concession may in fact be eligible for the mandatory concession.

We have responded to requests from local authorities and operators to re-visit the eligibility criteria to provide greater clarity and ensure that only services within the spirit of the legislation are included.

What is the intention of the mandatory concession?

The bus concession is intended to address the social exclusion of older and eligible disabled people in England by providing improved access to local services and amenities by using local bus services

How many Services will be affected by the changes?

As local authorities retain the ability to include any services it is not possible to say how many services will be affected. However, as these changes are intended to clarify the existing criteria, we do not expect them to impact a large number of services.

The impact assessment that accompanies the new legislation estimates that coaches are the most likely type of service to be affected and that around 22,500 trips per year (NOT services) could be affected. This is a very small number compared with the many, many millions of concessionary trips taken every year that will be completely unaffected by these changes.

Services on which more than half of the space can be reserved

What is this exclusion designed to do?

It is intended to exclude long distance intercity services, which typically are coach services, from the concession.

Under the existing criteria, it may be possible for some sections of coach routes to qualify for concessionary travel. Because previously travel was restricted to a local authority area, this was not an issue. However, with the introduction of England-wide concessionary travel, we have reassessed the criteria.

Why not just exclude coaches?

Referring to the vehicle type has been rejected as the same service can quite conceivably be run using either a "coach" or a "bus".

Why shouldn't coach services be included in the statutory concession?

The mandatory concession is intended for local bus services. There is a separate half-price coach concession which is not affected by these changes.

What if a coach service also provides an important local service?

Although the Department believe that these services lie outside of the scope of the mandatory concession, a local authority has the ability to offer concessionary travel on a discretionary basis on any services affected by these changes.

Services that are intended to run for less that 6 consecutive weeks

What is this exclusion designed to do?

This exclusion is intended to explicitly exclude very short-term services typically operating for the purpose of taking people to special events. They are temporary services which are outside of the intention of the concession.

Why shouldn't these services be included in the mandatory concession?

These services are either temporary or short-term and typically for special events rather than access to everyday goods and services. They are therefore outside the scope of the mandatory concession.

Services operated primarily for the purposes of tourism or because of the historical interest of the vehicle

What is this exclusion designed to do?

It is intended to exclude tourist and sightseeing buses, which charge premium fares and may have commentaries or other such services. It will also exclude services that are only run because the vehicle is of historical interest.

What about local services that stop at locations popular with tourists? 

The exclusion is not designed to exclude these services. The Department's view is that this exemption would not in any way exclude normal local bus services that charge standard fares but which happen to stop at tourist or historic venues.

Bus substitution (Rail Replacement) Services

What is this exclusion designed to do?

It is intended to explicitly exclude temporary rail replacement services from the concession.

Why shouldn't these services be included in the statutory concession?

The concession is for local bus services. Rail replacement services are for rail passengers and so are not within the intention of the concession.

What about new bus services that "replace" a rail service which has been permanently withdrawn?

A local bus service which meets the other eligibility criteria is established as a permanent replacement for a withdrawn rail service would still qualify for the concession. The exclusion is intended for temporary rail replacement services, such as those operated to cover engineering works.

Services where the fare includes a Special Amenity Element

What is this exemption intended to do?

It is intended to exclude services where the fare includes payment for something over and above the simple carriage of people. This could include a number of different things, such as a complimentary drink, newspaper, a guided commentary.

Why shouldn't these services be included in the mandatory concession?

These services offer more than just the carriage of people on local services and as such are outside the scope of the concession.

What about "Park and Ride" schemes?

This exemption is not aimed specifically at park and ride schemes. In fact, the term "park and ride" can be misleading as there is not a single category of service. There exists a number of different bus and car parking arrangements.

We are aware that in some schemes, the car parking fee is included in the bus fare. This would be a special amenity element and the service would be excluded from the mandatory concession.

However, a local authority may wish to include any service affected by the changes in its discretionary scheme. We believe that the proposals give local authorities the flexibility to make the most appropriate decisions for their park and ride schemes.

Why not offer free travel but require concessionaires to pay for the amenity element?

We do not believe that these services are within the scope of the mandatory concession. However, local authorities do have the ability to offer reduced fares as well as free travel as part of their discretionary schemes.