§ 13. Mr. Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam)What plans he has for a common age of entitlement to concessionary fares for older people. [116155]
§ The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions(Mr. John Prescott)The Government have a strong commitment to concessionary travel for elderly people. In the Transport Bill, we are introducing a statutory minimum for local authority concessionary travel schemes, which will provide at least half-fare travel on buses. After the recent Budget, we announced that the bus pass will also be available free of charge. Those two measures will benefit up to 5.3 million senior citizens. Under the terms of the Pensions Act 1995, the age of entitlement for concessionary travel for both men and women will be equalised at 65 by 2020.
§ Mr. BurstowThe statutory minimum scheme will be greatly welcomed by very many pensioners across the country. However, given that fact, and given that the statutory minimum scheme will effectively make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of age, will not the Secretary of State take the opportunity to introduce a common age of entitlement to travel schemes for everyone based on the age of 60?
§ Mr. PrescottI recognise the point that the hon. Gentleman is making. As he will know, there have been a number of court judgments in Europe on the matter, and those judgments have not held against our differential at 60 and 65. It is therefore a matter of resources. It would cost about £65 million to meet his request. When considering expenditure, we have to make a judgment on priorities, and the 1p Liberal tax would not necessarily pay for a common age of entitlement.
§ Angela Smith (Basildon)Many pensioners in my constituency have warmly welcomed the Government's decision on concessionary fares for older people—although, quite rightly, they still complain about the lack of bus services in many areas. However, will the Deputy Prime Minister consider extending the scheme to include young people in full-time education and those who are under 18, who still have to pay full fares?
§ Mr. PrescottThose matters are affected by cost resource and priorities, which have to be determined. I note, however, that the Labour candidate for mayor of London has made a similar suggestion.
§ Mr. Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield)I know that the right hon. Gentleman is very keen to extend concessionary travel for older people, but how would establishing a common age for concessionary travel, which was the intention of the original question, help older people in many parts of the country where there is little or no public transport at all? Is it not important that the Deputy Prime Minister should consider the problems 806 faced by many elderly people who do not have their own cars and live in remote rural areas—such as some of the villages in my own constituency of Macclesfield?
§ Mr. PrescottThe hon. Gentleman makes a serious point, but under the Conservative Government there was a massive decline in public transport provision, particularly in rural areas. Our £170 million of rural grants has led to 1,800 new services in rural areas. It may not cover everywhere, but it is a major step forward. I suppose that I should also be grateful that the hon. Gentleman did not mention the Manchester airport eastern link road, as he often does.