Agenda item

To consider and agree changes to the subsidy provided for the Young Persons Travel Pass Scheme and related proposed price increases.

(Item 6)

(Mr P Lightowler, Head of Public Transport, was present for this item.)

(1)  Cabinet received a report on the Young Persons Travel Pass (YPTP), KCC’s discretionary scheme which provides subsidised bus travel for Kent students in years 7 to 11. The report outlined the scheme, the background to the budget pressure and proposed a reduction in the level of subsidy to mitigate the financial pressure.

(2)  Mr Balfour, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, introduced the report and stated that it gave him no pleasure to have to propose these changes to the scheme but these were necessary due to the budget position.  He reminded the Cabinet that this was still a generous home to school transport scheme for children provided by the tax payers of Kent.

(3)  The Leader referred to the £1.4m overspend and acknowledged that this was a valuable service which gave parents a greater potential choice of schools for their children.

(4)  Mr Lightowler drew the Cabinet’s attention to the following:

·         When the scheme was changed from the Kent Freedom Pass to the YPTP, and the opportunity provided to pay for the pass half-yearly,  there was an expectation that the numbers using the scheme would reduce but this had not been the case.  This had led to a budget pressure of £1.4m.

·         He stated that there was a public misunderstanding re the YPTP.  The cost to the user was not the cost to the County Council.  In 2014/15 each pass cost the County Council an average of £588, Even with the proposed increase the YPTP represented good value for money for parents especially as the major bus companies normally charged children travelling before 9.00am the full adult fare.

(5)  The Leader suggested that consideration might be given to providing the facility to pay for the YPTP on a termly (three times a year) basis which might lead to a reduction in the number of passes for term 3 due to study leave.  Mr Lightowler explained that due to the administrative processes that would be required to make this change, it would not be practical to introduce this in 2015/16 but that it would be considered for 2016/17

(6)  Mr Balfour stated that he had discussed with officers how the scheme could be made more efficient, effective and better value for money.  An additional suggestion that he would like to put forward was that families with more than two children eligible for the YPTP should have passes for the third and subsequent children free of charge.

(7)       It was RESOLVED that