London Councils fights for concessionary fares deal

London Councils is calling on the government to honour the funding settlement it made with the capital to pay for the national bus concession. It is angry that systematic underfunding by the government of concessionary fares could cost London boroughs an extra £29million next year.

Under a three year package announced by the government in 2008, London was set to receive around £58 million in 2010/2011 to help cover the cost of providing free off peak bus travel in the capital.

But last month transport minister Sadiq Khan announced he would reopen the consultation on the last year of the settlement which could result in London losing about half of this funding.

If the government proposals are agreed, London will be hit harder than anywhere else in the country - with London boroughs losing on average just under £1million each.

In its response to the consultation, London Councils said there has been systematic underfunding for the last decade which must be addressed. It argues the funding has not kept pace with all the statutory burdens on London which have been introduced over the past decade.

The cross-party organisation says it is unreasonable for the government to make changes to funding at such short notice and with just eight weeks of consultation. Boroughs will not know the outcome of the consultation until the New Year, weeks before they finalise their budgets in February.

Chairman of London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Mike Fisher said: "It is totally unreasonable for the government to make changes in funding of this scale at this stage in the budget setting cycle. Boroughs are nearing the end of their budget setting process and it is extremely difficult to factor in a potential loss of £1million. The reopening of the deal at such a late stage and the short consultation breaches the spirit of partnership between central and local government.

"We are angry that London has been treated very unfairly compared to the rest of the country. We led the way on concessionary fares while the rest of the country caught up and now we are being penalised for it."