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[Ian White]

The Association of Transport Coordinating Officers has called for reimbursement of concessionary fares to be dealt with at the national level in its response to the Government’s consultation on ‘possible changes to the administration of concessionary travel’.

ATCO believes that national reimbursement through a central agency would be by far the most efficient approach, and would significantly reduce the cost to the public purse of administering the scheme, which the Department for Transport estimates at around £16million. This money could then be channelled into improved support for the improvement of local bus services. It would also reduce the time spent by bus operators in having to deal with a large number of local authorities, allow the development of a consistent approach to reimbursement across the country, and by removing local authorities from the often adversarial negotiations and appeals surrounding reimbursement would make it easier to engender the trust that is needed to deliver the improved partnership arrangements that are provided for in the Transport Act 2008.

Unlike the consultation document, which suggests that the existence of local discretionary concessions would be difficult to manage under a national administration, ATCO argues that the establishment of a central reimbursement agency would provide the opportunity to review the ‘rules’ of the national scheme so that a more consistent approach to what are currently discretionary extensions can be developed. This could see, for example, the establishment of a national entitlement to free travel before 0930 in rural areas where this is necessary to achieve accessibility objectives, and a more consistent approach to the availability of ‘companion passes’ for carers who accompany passholders who would otherwise be unable to use bus services. Upper tier authorities would however retain the power to

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offer local alternatives to the bus pass if they wished, and to negotiate with the
central agency to fund other extensions to its availability if they considered this to be necessary.

Although proposing that reimbursement should be carried out at the national level, ATCO believes that this is not incompatible with local arrangements for dealing with the processing of bus pass applications. It suggests that any personal contact, such as checking eligibility documentation and photographs, must be carried out as locally as possible and that the existing arrangements could continue, with authorities acting as agents for the central agency. ATCO also says that it does not see any conflict between having a central reimbursement agency and the Government’s wider policies towards devolved delivery, arguing that under the current arrangements local authorities are merely acting as agents for the Government, with little discretion in how the national concession is delivered or reimbursed.

The Association’s full response can be found on its website www.atco.org.uk

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Authors name; Ian White
ATCO Title; Liaison Officer



Contact details
For further information please contact;
Alan Hill,
Chair of ATCO Bus Executive
Telephone: 0121 214 7337
Email: alanhill@centro.org.uk
Online: www.atco.org.uk