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 Much of the council tax increase this year is blamed on the government's failure to fund schemes properly. Leader of Christchurch council,Cllr. Alan Grifiths, told a full meeting of the council that a large percentage of the increase was to fund the concessionary bus pass scheme.
From 1 April 2008 people in England who are 60 and over and/or 'eligible disabled' will be entitled to free off-peak local bus travel anywhere in England. Local authorities will still be able to offer further benefits to their residents, but these will only apply for travel in the local area and not anywhere in England. Cllr. Griffiths said that pensioners using the free scheme don't realise how much local rate payers are having to subsidise their travel mainly due to underfunding by central government who instigated the plan. For example, a rate payer in a Band "D" home would be paying £20 of the £156.18 Boroughs demand to support the concessionary bus pass scheme for buses which stop in Christchurch. Cllr. Griffiths said. "It is totally unfair and wrong. The government has 'stolen' £20 out of rate payers pockets. This year could have seen a reduction in demand of around 7% if it wasn't for concessionary bus passes." Cllr. Mike Duckworth, head of the resources committee branded the current system for funding as "totally unsatisfactory". Reporting on this years budget he said. "I acknowledge that this is an above inflation rise which I appreciate will make the affordability of people on fixed pensions difficult. The blame must be laid entirely on government who require us to undertake additional tasks without adequate funding, for example, the concessionary bus scheme but also the well documented and politically motivated diversion of funds to their supporters in the "poor" North." He added. " The ambition of this council is to accomplish inflation only increases as soon as practical. However this may not be possible until their tis a change of government." Dept of Transport said. "The minimum statutory requirement from April 2006 was free off peak travel within the local authority areas updated from half fare. The cost was £350 million in year 2006 - 2007 and £367.5 million was provided for 2007 - 2008 to fund extra costs to local councils. The Government is confident this as sufficient in total for the improvements to concessionary bus travel." Last update : 10-03-2008 11:01
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