§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the proportion the population in the United Kingdom which has had access to free concessionary bus transport in each year since 1990. [106820]
§ Mr. HillThe information available to my Department indicates that almost 2.1 million pensioners in the United Kingdom benefit from local authority schemes for free concessionary bus travel—that represents 3.55 per cent. of the UK population. I regret that information is not available for other groups who receive free concessionary bus travel (such as people with disabilities).
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the local authorities which provide free transport on buses to persons of pensionable age. [106821]
§ Mr. HillA survey carried out by my department showed that in 1995–96 the following authorities had free travel schemes for pensioners (with age group restrictions and cost of bus pass as indicated):
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Local authority Age group restriction Cost of pass (£) Greater London boroughs and City of London — — Merseyside PTA — — West Midlands PTA — — Bassetlaw — — Bracknell Forest — 20.00 Brentwood — 100.00
Local authority Age group restriction Cost of pass (£) Cheltenham — — Crawley — — Colchester — 90.00 East Staffordshire — 10.00 Hertsmere — 15.00 Lancashire 70+ years of age only — Nottingham — — Plymouth 80+ years of age only — Reading — — Redditch — — Shropshire — 42.75 Slough — 10.00 South Buckinghamshire 70+ years of age only 20.00 St. Albans 70+ years of age only — Stevenage — 25.00 Three Rivers — 18.00 Watford — 15.00