Free travel for elderly must be reviewed, says watchdog

Published on Wednesday 6 October 2010 15:48

FREE Scotland-wide bus travel for over sixties and the disabled should be reviewed because of its escalating cost and unclear impact, public spending watchdogs reported today.

Audit Scotland said ministers "may wish to consider" cutting the annual 200 million cost, for instance by raising the minimum age from 60 to 65, excluding those still working, or introducing a flat-rate 20p fare.

The watchdog said the Scottish Government's national concessionary travel (NCT) scheme was popular, with an 80 per cent uptake, but it had not been properly planned and managed, leaving it open to fraud and misuse.

It said the cost had increased from 173m when launched in 2006 and could rise to 216m within 15 years as the number of elderly people grew.

New electronic ticket machines to cut fraud had cost 42m - five times as much as expected - and were introduced more than four years late. Audit Scotland said this had been caused by using unproven technology and as a result of poor management.

The report said: "The Scottish Government should consider whether the money spent on NCT and the impact it has is the best use of public resources at a time of budget restraints."

It was introduced with all-party support to replace council schemes. Audit Scotland said: "While it started on time, robust systems were not in place to effectively manage it or monitor its success, and the overall impact of the scheme is still not clear."

It said official research had already shown the scheme has had only a limited impact on preventing isolation among the elderly, improving health and cutting car use.

At least 175,000 of the 1.1 million passes issued for the scheme are held by the disabled. It is to be extended to some 20,000 disabled veterans next year.

Labour has called for tighter controls over buses to prevent vulnerable services being reduced or axed, particularly since the reimbursement rate paid to operators for carrying passengers within the scheme had been cut and did not cover costs.

Transport spokesman Charlie Gordon said: "(Finance secretary] John Swinney must act on the warnings from passenger groups who believe that some routes could be under threat by the new reimbursement rate, which he negotiated."

The Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency, which runs the scheme, rejected raising the age limit or excluding working people. A spokeswoman said: "Ministers have clearly stated their commitment to preserving the existing eligibility for concessionary travel."

The agency also blamed the previous Labour-Liberal Democrat government for the scheme's shortcomings.

A spokeswoman said: "There are clearly lessons to be learned from how it was established and we have taken this on board.We have since made a number of significant improvements to the management and delivery of the scheme, particularly in relation to tackling fraud."