FREEDOM PASS THREATENED BY CASH CRISIS

Published: 8 October, 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER

THE pensioners’ Freedom Pass is under threat after Transport for London pulled out of a funding deal for the popular free-travel scheme, it’s been claimed.

Islington Labour leader Councillor Catherine West is battling with TfL, led by Conservative Mayor Boris Johnson, over a £22m gap in funds for the scheme.

She is leading negotiations with TfL on behalf of London’s 32 boroughs, which are faced with the  bill for plugging the gap following the transport chiefs’  “shock” decision.

Cllr West claimed this week that London’s Tories were “chipping away at a benefit” they did not like and that the move represented a long-term threat to the popular concession.

TfL hiked the bill it charges the London Councils for the Freedom Pass by £22m after abandoning a draft agreement to charge less.

Cash-strapped London councils must now make up the shortfall left by TfL, which means paying a total cost of around £300m between them, said Cllr West.

She warned: “My fear is that Tory boroughs which might not be committed to the Freedom Pass will start to question – is this the way to spend money?”

Conservative-controlled Bromley Council famously scuppered a cheap travel deal championed by then Greater London Council leader Ken Livingstone with a legal challenge in the early 1980s.

Cllr West said many Conservative councillors objected to the pass because all pensioners, no matter how wealthy, qualified for it.

“TfL and Boris Johnson have reneged on the deal with us because deep down the Tories don’t believe in universal benefits,” she claimed.

She fears TfL’s move is the first step in a Conservative campaign which could:

• Reduce the scope of the scheme, barring travel in peak times;
• Restrict it to poorer pensioners; and
• In an unlikely worst-case scenario, abolish it altogether.

Any move to take away the pass would be met with “all-out war” from older people, claimed George Durack, chairman of Islington Pensioners’ Forum.

He said: “It’s one of the few benefits we get and there will be a war if they try to take it away. People who have worked hard all their lives deserve some benefits.

“I can see a campaign of civil disobedience outside the Houses of Parliament. People might feel inclined to sit down and refuse to get up again. That’s how strongly I feel about this issue.”

Cllr West is leading talks with TfL about funding arrangements as chairman of the London Councils’ transport and economic committee.

The draft five-year deal was scuppered when TfL pleaded poverty after its grant was cut by the government.

TfL commissioner Peter Hendy told Cllr West in a letter: “This makes it impossible for TfL to absorb the gap between the cost of the Freedom Pass and settlements provided for in the five-year deal. As a result, TfL is no longer in a position to sign the draft deal.”

A TfL spokeswoman added: “The financial burden on TfL of the proposal has increased significantly. That means we need to take another look at the amount London Councils would provide to ensure they make a fair contribution.

“Users can be assured that the Freedom Pass will continue on an annual basis and that TfL has no interest in doing anything to jeopardise the concession.”

She stressed that "legal responsibility for funding the Freedom Pass sits with the London Councils".

Cllr West will be meeting Mr Johnson shortly in a bid to win back the more favourable deal for the boroughs. 

‘No cuts!’ Protest outside Town Hall

TWO passionate campaigners, defending the public institutions in Islington, stood shoulder to shoulder at a rally last night (Thursday) to protest against the government’s austerity measures.

Angela Sinclair was battling for Sotheby Mews Day Centre for the elderly in Highbury, which is threatened by budget reductions.

And Shirley Franklyn, who led the successful campaign to save Whittington Hospital’s accident and emergency unit, was there to offer advice on how it could be done. The two women joined a protest outside the Town Hall in Upper Street against cuts ordered by the Coalition.

Ms Franklyn urged Ms Sinclair and other protesters to take heart from the Whittington triumph.