Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was spent on concessionary travel spending in York Unitary Authority in each year since 2008-09.

Stephen Hammond

The total amount spent by York City Council on concessionary travel, including the statutory concession and any relevant discretionary enhancements, is detailed in the table below:

Figures for 2013/14 are still being collated.

Local authority formula grant has been the main vehicle for providing concessionary travel funding to local authorities since the current statutory concession’s introduction in 2008. Since this grant is unhypothecated it is not possible to provide a breakdown by authority.

In 2008 the Department for Transport provided English authorities with a total of £31 million to assist in the reissuing of concessionary passes, £130,972 of which was allocated to York City Council.

Between April 2008 and April 2011 the Department made Special Grant payments to authorities, in addition to the formula grant they were already receiving, recognising the additional cost of the extension to pre-2008 concessionary travel arrangements. The following table indicates the amount of funding available to York in each of the three years during which special grant was paid.