Agenda item

Mr R F Manning, Lead Member for Environment, Highways and Waste; Mr A Wilkinson, Managing Director, Environment and Regeneration; and Mr D Hall, County Transportation Manager, will attend the meeting at 11.15 am to 12 noon to answer Members’ questions on this item.

(1)       Mr R F Manning, Lead Member for Environment, Highways and Waste; Mr D Hall, County Transportation Manager; and Mr D Joyner, Sustainable Transport Manager, Environment and Regeneration Directorate, attended the meeting to answer Members’ questions on this matter.

(2)       In introducing the item, Mr Manning said that the pilot scheme had been launched successfully and was proving very popular, but it was a pilot and it had only been running for 5 months out of a planned 12.   Experience from the pilot, and the views expressed by interested parties, would all be carefully considered before the scheme was rolled out further. 

(3)       Members’ questions covered the following issues:-

Take-up of Freedom Passes

(4)       In answer to a question from Mr Law, Mr Hall said that 4,800 passes had been issued (against an estimate of 3,000), of which approximately 10% had been bought for children who were entitled to free school transport.

Charge for Freedom Pass

(5)       In answer to a question from Mr Hart, Mr Manning explained that the £50 charge was to meet the administrative costs of issuing each pass.  As the scheme was extended to additional areas it was possible that economies of scale might allow the charge to be reduced.

(6)       Mr Joyner said that his team were carrying out surveys throughout schools on barriers (including the cost) to take-up of the passes.  In addition, a bid to the Government for Pathfinder status was being prepared.  If successful, the funds obtained could be used to waive the £50 charge for low-income households.

Extension of Pilot Scheme

(7)       In answer to questions from Mr Truelove, Mr Manning and Mr Hall said that discussions were taking place with bus operators about the next areas to be included in the pilot scheme but no decisions had yet been taken on where these should be.
16-18 Year Olds

(8)       In answer to questions from Mr Truelove and Mr Horne, Mr Hall said that extension of the Freedom Pass scheme to 16-18 year olds was included as part of the bid for Pathfinder status.

Looked After Children

(9)       In answer to questions from Mr Truelove, Dr Eddy and Mr Horne, Mr Manning said that the Freedom Pass scheme did not currently include Looked After Children.  Mr Hall explained that it was an aspiration to include Looked After Children and efforts were being made to find a mechanism for this.

Inclusion of Rail Travel in Freedom Pass Scheme

(10)     In answer to questions from Mr Horne and Mr Northey, Mr Hall said that there had been considerable discussions with Southeastern Railway, and these were continuing, but it had not yet proved possible to overcome the rail company’s reservations about joining in the Freedom Pass scheme.  Their main concern appeared to be policing the use of the Freedom Pass, given that train services typically covered long distances, well beyond the limits of the area covered by the Freedom Pass.

Measuring Impact of Freedom Pass Scheme on Traffic Congestion

(11)     In answer to a question from Mrs Dean, Mr Joyner said traffic surveys were being undertaken on various roads in Canterbury, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells to measure the impact of the scheme in terms of journey time per km travelled. In Canterbury, the surveys benefited from use of Police number-plate recognition cameras.  Survey results from Freedom Pass application forms showed that 27% of applicants travelled to school by car as their main mode of travel.

Conclusions

(12)     RESOLVED that:-

(a)       Mr Manning, Mr Hall and Mr Joyner be thanked for attending the meeting to answer Members’ questions;

(b)       all involved be congratulated on the successful launch and operation of the Freedom Pass pilot scheme;

(c)        Cabinet be recommended that Freedom Passes should be provided immediately by the County Council, in its role as corporate parent, to all its Looked After Children in the pilot areas, with Looked After Children in other areas being provided with Freedom Passes by the County Council as the scheme was extended to those areas;

(d)       the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste be requested to announce as quickly as possible the areas to be covered by the extension to the existing Freedom Pass pilot scheme in June 2008, and by any subsequent extension before full County-wide roll-out was achieved;

(e)       the intention to make a bid for Pathfinder status be welcomed, particularly if approval of such a bid would allow a reduced charge for the Freedom Pass to be made to disadvantaged households;

(f)         regardless of the outcome of the bid for Pathfinder status, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste be urged to consider the possibility of offering a reduced charge, or payment by instalments, to disadvantaged households;

(g)       the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste be requested to provide regular reports to the Committee to enable it to monitor the costs, charges and take-up of the Freedom Pass scheme; and

(h)        the Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste be urged to pursue as strongly as possible the inclusion of rail travel in the Freedom Pass scheme (particularly in those areas where rail, rather than bus, provided the most important local public transport link), both directly and, in the context of the bid for Pathfinder status, by asking Government to put pressure on Southeastern Railway to participate.