§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Minister of Transport (1) if he will list the local authorities in England and Wales which provide free bus passes for retirement pensioners and those which assist with bus passes and those which give no assistance at all; what is his policy on such assistance for travel; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will list the local authorities in England and Wales which provide free bus passes for the disabled, whether registered or not and those which assist with bus passes and those which give no assistance at all; what is his policy on such assistance for travel; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIt is for local authorities to decide what, if any, concessions to provide for elderly or disabled people and the Department does not collect regular information about their schemes. A limited survey carried out in England and Wales in 1978 showed that 18 authorities provided free bus travel for pensioners, 275 authorities offered a variety of lesser concessions and 47 provided no concessions. A wider survey carried out in 1976 showed that 85 authorities provided free travel for physically disabled people, 73 provided no concessions and the remainder offered a variety of concessions.