§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why they consider that Clauses 123 to 129 of the Transport Bill are compatible with Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights read with Article 14 of the convention, given that these provisions discriminate between elderly persons as regards half-price travel concessions on the basis of the different pensionable ages for men and women. [HL865]
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston)The provisions in the Transport Bill require local authorities to provide half-price travel concessions for people who have attained pensionable age. The Government take the view that entitlement to concessionary travel is not a pecuniary right falling within Article 1 of the First Protocol to the convention and that consequently the United Kingdom is not subject to the provisions of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in respect of the grant of such a concession. The Government have already announced their intention to equalise pensionable age at 65 for men and women over a transitional period between 2010 and 2020.