§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now state the amount of support given to each retirement pensioner in (a) Gloucester, (b) Cheltenham, (c) the Cotswoldsk, (d) Tewkesbury, (e) Stroud, and (f) South Gloucestershire as concessionary bus fare support in 1978, 1977, 1976 and 1975.
§ Mr. Horam:The expenditure incurred by the local authorities on concessionary fares, expressed as an amount per elderly resident, is estimated to be as follows:
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report those local authorities which provide retirement pensioners with half or more of their bus fares in 1978.
409W
§ Mr. Horam:This information cannot readily be determined because many authorities issue tokens whose value to pensioners depends on the journeys they make and on local fare levels.
§ Mr. Watkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport how much money
£'000s 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 Avon … … … 659 613 730 Gloucestershire … … … 254 173 251 Hereford and Worcestershire … … … 269 339 494 Somerset … … … 69 152 300 Gwent … … … 428 515 575 The figures are derived from the financial and rating statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Separate figures for Worcestershire are not available.