Mayor continues to mislead Londoners over the Freedom Pass

London Councils has today (Wednesday 20 June 2007) called on the Mayor of London to stop misleading Londoners over the Freedom Pass concessionary fares scheme.

The call follows continued false claims by the Mayor that the boroughs are planning to scrap or water down the free travel benefits enjoyed by the capital's older and disabled people. London Councils has made it clear to the Mayor that it has absolutely no intention of diluting any of the free travel benefits enjoyed by over one million Freedom Pass holders in London.

London's boroughs have been running and paying for the Freedom Pass for over 20 years. Boroughs pay for the Freedom Pass through a mixture of national taxes and local income, including the council tax.

The boroughs' concerns are around the spiraling costs demanded by the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) for providing the Freedom Pass. It costs London's boroughs £216 million to provide the pass on the TfL network in the current financial year, compared to £142 million in 2000-2001. 

The cost of providing the Freedom Pass on the capital's buses, tubes, trams and Docklands Light Railway is negotiated annually by TfL and London Councils. However, TfL has the power to impose any charge it wants if no agreement is reached by 31 December each year. London's boroughs cannot appeal this decision.  

London Councils believes a fairer way would be for the government, and not TfL, to make the final decision if no agreement can be reached by the end of each year. Now London Councils is calling on the Mayor to join with it in setting up an independent commission to look at how the Freedom Pass is negotiated every year. 

This would examine why the cost of the Freedom Pass has risen by 52 per cent since TfL was set up and would also look at the fairness of TfL having the ability to act as judge and jury on how much the scheme should cost.

Chairman of London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee, Cllr Daniel Moylan, said:

"The Mayor is well aware that there is, and never has been, any threat to the Freedom Pass from London Councils or the boroughs.

"However, he is continuing to mislead people deliberately in an effort to maintain his ability to use the Freedom Pass negotiations as a way of taking more money from Londoners by stealth.

"It is unfair that TfL has the power to act as judge and jury over the total cost of providing the Freedom Pass. However the Mayor seems not to trust the government to agree a fair cost for of the pass.

"He also seems unwilling to say why the cost of providing the Pass on TfL's network has risen by 52 per cent in seven years.

"An independent commission into how the Freedom Pass is negotiated would help ensure that we agree a way forward that continues to protect the pass at a cost that is fair to London's council tax payers."