MAY I correct a few of the assumptions and assertions in the letter from Mr Spreadbury (28 August 2018) regarding the Hampshire County Council consultation on OAP free bus passes. 

The county council is consulting residents on their views whether it would be better to have a small charge that would help retain bus subsidies. I dare say views will be mixed and I dare say the Government will in any event want for various reasons to keep the national system of free passes and free travel for OAPs, but the issue is real. 

The fact is the county council must set a balanced budget. If we are limited in the amount by which council tax could be increased whilst we have to provide increasingly expensive social services for more and more elderly people needing care, as well as more children coming into care, then something has to give. That could be the subsidies we currently put towards uneconomic bus routes. 

Free OAP bus passes were introduced by the Labour government in 2006. Like most things that are free, somebody has to pay, in Hampshire it is the County Council. A free scheme may work well in London and large cities where there are plenty of economic bus services, but it is problematic in rural areas where often a vital service is not commercial and only survives with a subsidy. 

We are trying to explain to the Government there are different circumstances in rural areas and it could be that local OAPs would prefer to pay a little in order to keep a service. After all a free pass is no use without a bus. It would be perfectly possible to devise a scheme that keeps free passes for those pensioners on limited means and we would want to do that. The consultation is asking Hampshire residents for their thoughts but is also to remind the Government things need to work differently in rural areas. 

Roy Perry
Leader of Hampshire County Council