Agenda item

Mr K A Ferrin, Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste; Mr D Hall, Head of Transport and Development, Environment & Regeneration; and Mr G D Wild, Director of Law and Governance, will attend the meeting from 11.30 am to 12 noon to answer Members’ questions on this item.

Mr Ferrin, Mr Hall and Mr Clark were present for this item.

The Chairman explained that the Committee’s concerns were that some of those whose families were paying tax in Kent might not be able to access the Freedom Pass service because it was administered through schools. 

Mr Ferrin stated that from the start there had been two criteria for eligibility to the Freedom Pass, 1) the child had to live in Kent, 2) the child had to go to school in Kent and he emphasised that that had been clear from the beginning.  Mr Ferrin was not aware that the scheme had been seriously questioned, no legal advice had been received which suggested that the criteria were illegal or, in a legal sense, unfair or that the arrangements that had been made for the Freedom Pass were unlawful.  Mr Ferrin did state that Officers had been instructed to review the scheme in light of experience, it was the intention to review the scheme in September and the review would take into account Member’s views on the scheme and the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee might wish to indicate the areas that it wants reviewing.  Mr Clark explained that the legislation gave the local authority the discretion to set up a scheme on the basis it chose either for people living in, and going to school in an area, or not, as the Council decided, the discretion was entirely with the local authority, there was no obligation on them to provide free transport to those who live in the county and go to school outside it.

Ms Carey stated that the Committee had invited the witnesses because the Freedom Pass was a brilliant scheme the Committee welcomed the review and enquired whether it was practical to extend the scheme to the 16 – 18 year old age group.  In response Mr Ferrin explained that it was not within his power to decide to extend the scheme to 16 – 18 year olds and there would be major budget implications to doing that.  The review would look at the day to day issues of the current scheme, involving all the relevant groups of people including the views of the bus operators.  Mr Chell explained that in his experience young people who lived in Kent but went to school outside of Kent felt disadvantaged because they did not receive the freedom pass.  Mr Ferrin was aware of these issues and they had been discussed at great length when the scheme was originally implemented.  Mr Chell responded by saying that the Freedom Pass was also intended for leisure and social activities within Kent, Mr Ferrin pointed out that it was difficult to separate a pass for social activities and a pass for transport to school.  The issue of low income families with multiple children of school age also needed to be addressed and Mr Ferrin hoped that the Kent Credit Union would be able to assist in these cases. 

Mr Truelove concurred that it was a brilliant scheme for young people and it also helped to tackle congestion problems, the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee had raised its concerns as soon as it had become aware of the anomalies.  The discussion was focussing on the Freedom Pass as a bus pass whereas in fact it was marketed as a recreational pass for leisure use and the Committee should bear that in mind.  Mr Truelove stated that a substantial amount of money was available in the Freedom Pass scheme because the railway element had not been taken up.  Mr Ferrin explained that there were between 1300 – 1400 children in the county who were in the position of not receiving the Freedom Pass.  He stated that there was not money available in the Freedom Pass budget, the budget for the current year was expected to be fully spent. 

Mr Horne stated that if the Government looked to support public transport then a scheme such as the Freedom Pass might qualify for some funding and the review should take this into account.  Mr Horne also congratulated the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway for being part of the Freedom Pass scheme, it was disappointing that Southeastern Rail hadn’t become involved in the scheme and they should be again encouraged to participate.  Mr Ferrin agreed with the points made by Mr Horne, many Freedom Pass holders used to travel to school on the train, efforts were made to involve Southeastern Rail as it would be extremely beneficial to young people.  A bid was made under the Government’s pathfinder programme for support for the Freedom Pass scheme but the bid was not successful.  In response to a question from Mr Horne Mr Hall confirmed that the bid was to enable the scheme to be extended to 16 – 18 year olds, there was currently no Government funding mechanism for the scheme but Officers would continue to explore any possibilities. 

Mr Northey praised the Freedom Pass scheme and asked:

-          What the latest figures on the number of children using the scheme were?

-          What percentage was that of the eligible school population?

-          What could be done to encourage young people to take up the Pass if they had not already?

-          What effect had the Freedom Pass had on local school runs and congestion?

Mr Hall confirmed that the latest figures were over 13,000 (excluding the June tranche but including Swale and Thanet) it was expected that the original estimate of around 23,000 passes would be about right.  Mr Hall agreed to provide the percentage of the eligible school children after the meeting and would cover the point about what could be done to encourage young people to join the scheme later on in the agenda item.  The Pass seemed to be making a difference of around 2 – 3% on traffic congestion at schools but the figures would be confirmed after the meeting. 

Mrs Dean reiterated the discussions of the Select Committee from which the Freedom Pass originated that the Pass was of great value socially as well as for school.  Mr Cowan stated that the scheme was not purely for travel to school, it had great value out of school hours for recreational activities and he considered that it was unfair to blame the Government for not providing sufficient funding for the scheme.  Mr Cowan strongly disagreed with the anomalies within the scheme that disadvantaged children who lived in Kent but attended school outside of Kent’s administrative area.  The issue of affordability for less well off families and extending the scheme to 16 – 18 year olds was also raised.  Mr Ferrin stated that he would be delighted if the scheme could be extended to 16 – 18 year olds, but there were major budget implications and it had to be considered as a part of Kent County Council’s overall budget.  The Freedom Pass scheme was complicated to administer, there were many issues to consider and the scheme would be reviewed in September and input from Members on issues for the review to cover would be welcomed. 

Mrs Hohler welcomed the review of the fantastic scheme, savings would have been made in transport appeals, road safety issue and congestion and these all needed to be taken into account within the review, and perhaps the Government should be lobbied to bring in a free school transport scheme particularly for 16 – 18 year olds for whom education would soon become compulsory. 

The Chairman suggested that the Committee set up an Informal Member Group to which all Members of the Committee and other Members could contribute to look at the way in which the scheme worked and to produce a basic list for Mr Ferrin to consider within his review in September.  Mr Simmonds suggested that that might be a function of the original Select Committee, and that the issue of assisting those families who might not be able to afford the Freedom Pass and the involvement of the credit union was a good suggestion.  Mr Hall offered to Members of the Committee a mosaic analysis of the freedom take-up so far which indicated that better off families were the more prevalent.  Mr Smyth asked Mr Ferrin whether it was likely that Southeast trains had concerns over the journey into London and how to administer travel over the border of Kent, Mr Ferrin stated that this was an issue they raised along with the issue of behaviour although only 20 Freedom Passes had been withdrawn across the whole county. 

Resolved that:

1. The Committee thanked Mr Ferrin, Mr Hall and Mr Clark for attending the meeting and answering Members’ questions;
2. The Committee welcomed the fact that there would be a review of the Freedom Pass in September 2009 and agreed to set up an IMG after the elections to feed into the review. (The IMG should seek the views of all Cabinet Scrutiny Members before going on to seek the views of all Members of the Council).   Items for the IMG to consider included:

a.      The link between the Freedom Pass and Home to School Transport;

b.      Extending the Freedom Pass to include 16 – 18 year olds (particularly with the introduction of compulsory education for that age group);

c.      Encouraging the involvement of Southeastern Rail in the Freedom Pass scheme;     

d.      Options for those families unable to afford the Freedom Pass;

e.      The use of the card for leisure use for Kent residents attending school outside of Kent;

f.        Promotion of the scheme;

3. Members requested that the Mosaic report on the Freedom Pass be circulated to the Committee;
4. Members requested further information on the percentage of eligible school population who have a Freedom Pass;
5. Members requested that representation be made to the Government for financial assistance with providing free transport for young people.