Freedom Pass is safe

• IF someone tries to tell you the Freedom Pass is under threat, don’t listen to them.
The pass was introduced by the Labour-controlled Greater London Council in 1974. It has been funded jointly by the London boroughs ever since. In 1999 it became protected by law through the GLA Act.
In 2008, the  government introduced a national bus pass scheme. This meant over-60s could travel by bus anywhere in the country. The government gave local authorities an extra grant to cover the cost. This was quite a big grant in London as it was thought it would prove expensive. However, there have been far fewer of these trips in London than anticipated. 
London councils have told the government the additional costs of the national bus concession were forecast to be £5.1million in 2008-09. They actually got £55.4million from the government. 
The government is not going to take this back, but it isn’t going to give more than is needed in future. It will give it to boroughs in parts of the country which have had to spend more than the grant they got. This seems fair to me. By the way, what happened to the extra money Islington Council got from the government?
But the main issue is that the Freedom Pass is absolutely safe. It is scaremongering to frighten people in the way the Lib Dems have set out to do. 
CLLR JANET BURGESS
Labour shadow executive member for health and social services

• PENSIONERS are being told the Freedom Pass is under threat – or not, depending on the political party. The Freedom Pass incorporates the older bus pass, which has  been a major help to pensioners and disabled people.
It is obvious there are  people who are deliberately setting out to alarm some of the most vulnerable people in Islington. Even worse, some of the alarming statements are being made by people elected to safeguard the interests of the community, either at the Town Hall or City Hall.
What they should be more transparent about is where is the threat, to what and why.
JOHN WORKER
Secretary, Islington Pensioners Forum