Cost of bankrolling freedom passes more than doubles since 2007

The cost to the Town Hall of subsidising freedom passes has more than doubled over the past decade.

Hackney Council is dutybound to fund the passes, but have been forced to do so on less and less money as central government funding is cut.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, Transport and Parks, said: “The cost of freedom passes in Hackney has increased significantly – from £5.3m in 2007/08 to £12m in 2019/20 – while the resources we have to fund this and other vital services have continued to reduce in recent years.

“Freedom passes are a lifeline for our older residents, and the service deserves a fair and transparent funding system with meaningful investment from central government.”

Councils with the most well-developed bus networks, low-income people on a pension, and covering areas with low car ownership are coming under the greatest pressure. 

Paul Woods, interim chief finance officer for the North East Combined Authority, claimed in February that all of the additional £666 million in funding provided by central government has been cut since 2010/11. 
Local authorities subsidised pensioners’ travel to the tune of £652 million in 2017/18. 

Speaking to Room 151 in February on the decision to fund the passes based on resident population by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Woods said: “I don’t think the government appreciates the implications of what they are proposing. 

“The end result is that they will move money from urban areas to rural ones, which is a tick in the political box.

“I think this is a very significant issue which has not really come to the fore.”