COMMITTEE FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Committee Office Room 402
Parliament Buildings
Belfast
BT4 3XX
Tel: 02890 521970
Fax: 02890 525927
Email committee.regionaldevelopment@niassembly.gov.uk

Mr Conor Murphy
Minister for Regional Development
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT12 8GB

6 June 2008

Dear Conor

1. You wrote to the Committee on 8 April 2008, seeking the Committee’s views on the public consultation on free travel for people aged 60-64.
2.  The Committee for Regional Development noted receipt of a consultation document from the Department for Regional Development on Free Travel for People aged 60-64, and the draft Equality Impact Assessment on the proposal to extend the Northern Ireland concessionary fares scheme to people aged 60-64, at the Regional Development Committee meeting held on 23 April 2008.
3.   At that meeting, Members agreed to write to IMTAC, Help the Aged, and Age Concern seeking their views on the consultation document.

 Responses

4. Written responses were received from Age Concern, and IMTAC. These are attached at Annex A. Help The Aged has indicated it is broadly in support of the 60-64 concessionary fares scheme, and the response made by Age Concern to the consultation documents. However due to staffing difficulties they would be unable to provide a written response to the Committee on the draft proposals.
5. The response from Age Concern welcomes the extension of free travel to those aged 60-64, however it raises a number of points in relation to the consultation. Age Concern notes that the consultation began in April 2008, yet the Programme for Government was agreed in January 2008. It advocates that an earlier date for the consultation could have avoided the problem of distributing the SmartPass over the summer.Age Concern is also disappointed that the Department did not formally engage the age sector and older people when analysing the current Northern Ireland concessionary fares scheme. Its response also emphasises the problem of up take in rural areas due to the lack of access to public transport.
6. The response from IMTAC, whilst also welcoming the proposal to extend concessionary fares to those aged 60-64, raises a number of issues in relation to the scheme, and to the consultation. IMTAC suggests a number of ways in which the consultation process could be improved in the future. Its response emphases the remaining inequalities between older people, and people with disabilities eligible for concessions. The point is made that whilst uptake for the scheme is high many people remain unable to use the scheme due to the lack of access to public transport. IMTAC acknowledges the lack of resources available to DRD, but urges the Department to consider its proposals on further extension of the scheme. Members of IMTAC are also disappointed that the draft Equality Impact Assessment is extended only to the 60-64 concessionary fares scheme, and not to the concessionary fares scheme generally.

Committee response

7. The Committee notes that free travel is currently available to :

• People, aged 65 and over;
• Those who are registered as being blind; and
• Those in receipt of a war disablement pension.

8. The Committee for Regional Development welcomes proposals to extend concessionary fares to those aged 60-64, and would urge the Department to consider extending the scheme, resources allowing, to people with disabilities in order to bring Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the United Kingdom. The Committee would also urge the Department to consider extending the scheme to include carers in order to facilitate those who require the assistance of a carer when travelling to more fully avail of the concessionary fares scheme.
9. Members expressed concern that the number of SmartPasses in circulation does not accurately reflect the use of passes. This arises because of problems in accessing public transport, particularly in rural areas, a problem which contributes to social exclusion especially amongst older people, and those people with disabilities. The Committee would urge the Department to look at ways to increase access to public transport, particularly in rural areas.

Other issues in relation to concessionary fares

10. The Committee acknowledges the important work already undertaken by IMTAC in relation to concessionary fares, and the Committee recommends the Department responds to the recommendations suggested by IMTAC in its response to the public consultation on free travel for those aged 60-64, and that the Committee is provided with a copy of this response.
11. During the Committees consultation on the draft Budget and Programme for Government, Members heard evidence from IMTAC on the problems which people with disabilities have in accessing concessionary fares. At the Committee meeting held on 9 April 2008, Members received briefing on the Accessible Transport Strategy from the Department and this issue was once again raised by Members. The Committee believes the situation is totally unacceptable, and would strongly urge the Department to develop the necessary ticketing software, management and other systems in order to address this problem immediately.
12. Members of the Regional Development Committee are strongly in favour of the introduction of concessionary fares to encourage the use of public transport, and support the Department in securing further concessionary fares schemes in the future.
13. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this consultation, and the Committee looks forward to working with the Department on the issue of concessionary fares in the future.

Yours sincerely

Fred Cobain, MLA
Committee Chairperson

Annex A

 

Northern Ireland

Free Travel for People Aged 60 to 64

1.0 Background

Age Concern Northern Ireland (ACNI) is a major voluntary organisation committed through campaigning and service provision to promoting the rights of all older people as active, involved and equal citizens. We act as a Northern Ireland-wide campaigning body and support a network of local Age Concern groups operating throughout Northern Ireland.

2.0 Introduction

ACNI welcomes the opportunity to comment on the consultation for Free Travel for People Aged 60-64. This proposal has been one of our main campaigning priorities over the last number of years and we are delighted that it will finally be implemented. We are disappointed that the consultation started in April 2008, when the Programme for Government was agreed in January 2008. An earlier start date for the consultation could have avoided the difficulty of distributing new SmartPasses over the summer.

3.0 Other comments

We were concerned that the analysis of the current NI Concessionary Fares Scheme did not formally engage with the age sector and older people when assessing its impact. An informal meeting between Age Concern NI and the Department came about due to an information query from the Department on the promotion of SmartPasses. At that meeting, ACNI emphasised the need for a full consultation exercise to assess the impact of the current scheme as well as any proposed changes. And while we welcome the new proposals, there is still a significant number of people for whom the SmartPass is not useful, particularly those in rural communities who have limited or no access to public transport.

ACNI is aware that the Department had requested funds to extend the Concessionary Fares Scheme further and we fully support extension of the scheme to additional groups.

 

 

Imtac’s comments on the
public consultation and draft equality impact
assessment on the proposal to extend
the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme to
people aged 60-64

 

May 2008

 

 

Any enquiry concerning this document should be made to
Michael Lorimer , Executive Secretary,
IMTAC, 189 Airport Road West

Belfast , BT3 9ED

Tel: 028 90 297885
Fax: 028 90 297881
Textphone: 028 90 297885
Email: Info@tacni.org.uk
Website: www.imtac.org.uk

1 About Imtac

1.1 Imtac is a committee of disabled people and older people as well as others including key transport professionals. Our role is to advise Government and others in Northern Ireland on issues that affect the mobility of older people and disabled people.

1.2 Our aim is to ensure that older people and disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else to travel when and where they want.

1.3 Imtac receives support from the Department for Regional Development.

2 Comments on the consultation process

2.1 Imtac recently published guidelines to assist the DRD to meet policy commitments made in the Accessible Transport Strategy around consultation with older people and disabled people. The Committee commends the Department for making the consultation document available in alternative formats and including a textphone contact for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

2.2 However the Committee would make the following recommendations that should inform and improve future consultation processes.

• Consultation processes should last 12 weeks not the 8 weeks advertised
• As well as advertising alternative formats consultees should be offered the opportunity to respond in a manner that suits them best – eg over the telephone
• An “easy read” version of the consultation should be developed to make the process more accessible to everyone including people with a learning disability
• Consideration should be given to additional forms of consultation, such as focus group meetings or public meetings, to supplement the written consultation. Given this is a policy that affects both older people and disabled people the Committee believes that such measures would have been appropriate.

3 Comments on the public consultation

3.1 Imtac welcomes the proposed extension of the current Scheme to allow free travel for older people from 60 to 64. This gives older people here parity with national concessionary schemes that exist in Great Britain.

3.2 Despite the change Imtac must express frustration that the Scheme will continue contain serious inequalities between those older people and disabled people currently eligible for concessions. These inequalities mean that the scheme brings little or no benefit to many older people and the majority of disabled people. The inequalities also seriously undermine the objectives and policy commitments made by the DRD in the Accessible Transport Strategy (2005). Statistics contained in the current consultation and the previous Review indicates that the vast majority of disabled people eligible have not applied for the concession. With regard to older people whilst uptake is high the majority of smartpass holders either never use the concessions or use it infrequently. Imtac is concerned that analysis of usage of the scheme highlights the limited impact of the Scheme in tackling social exclusion and that more work is needed to ensure that those who currently do not use the Scheme can. Two issues are of particular concern.

3.3 Firstly the majority of disabled people here qualify for half- fare travel only. There is no valid explanation as why these groups of people should not enjoy the same concessions as other disabled people such as those who registered blind or indeed older people other than a lack of resources. The Departments own ATS makes clear that the cost of travel is a barrier for both older people and disabled people. Northern Ireland is the only administration in these islands that does not include free travel for disabled people as a part of the concessionary travel scheme a disparity that is again impossible to justify.

3.4 The second issue is the difficulty many older people and disabled people have using the current scheme. This may be because public transport available might not be accessible or for people living in a rural area public transport is simply not available. Alternatives to public transport including taxis and door-to-door are often more expensive than public transport.

3.5 Despite the frustrations of the Committee we acknowledge that resources are finite and Government here had to make difficult choices. We recognise that there is currently little or no scope to make further extensions to the Scheme. However Imtac would like the Department to consider the following recommendations:

• Make extending free travel to disabled people the priority when resources become available
• Make a policy commitment that future extensions of the Scheme will apply equally to older people and disabled people (in line with the ATS)
• Cost and consider making travel free on door-to-door services supported by the Department
• Pilot a taxicard/taxivoucher scheme here to assess its effectiveness as an alternative to the current Scheme

4 Comments on the draft EQIA

4.1 Imtac is disappointed that the EQIA applies only to the proposed extension to the Scheme and not the Scheme itself. Clearly such a narrow focus on such limited numbers of people will have relatively few negative impacts on any of the equality groupings and as such a detailed response is pointless.

4.2 However as we have clearly identified disabled people outside this narrow age band are significantly disadvantaged by the current Scheme both in comparison with older people here but also in comparison with disabled people living in every other part of these islands. To some extent this results from changes made to Schemes elsewhere since the last full EQIA on the policy in 2004 and as such we believe the entire policy should have been subject to impact assessment.

5 Conclusion

5.1 Whilst Imtac welcomes the proposed extension to the Concessionary Fares Scheme to older people aged 60 to 64, the Committee remains frustrated that many inequalities continue exist within the scheme and that disabled people in particular continue to be disadvantaged here in comparison the equivalent schemes elsewhere. Imtac acknowledges the finite resources available to Government here but we would ask that DRD give a formal response to recommendations made in this response.

ImtacMembers 2008/09

Frank Caddy Chair
William Stewart Vice-Chair
Elizabeth Black
Terry Butler
Ann Collins Convenor Personal Mobility Group
Barbara Fleming
Anita Gracey
Tom Hoey Convenor Public Transport Group
Henry Mayne
Norma Moore
Joe McCusker
David McDonald Convenor Information & Training Group
Geraldine Mulhern
Andrew Murdock
Bryan Myles
Ronnie Patterson
Etta Mann
Neil Gillan
Philip Blair
Max O’Brien
Ann Gamble

Imtac Public Transport Working Group Members

Gerry Maguire
Adele Watters
Laura Slater
Francis Hughes

More information on our members is available on our website, visit www.imtac.org.uk.

Observers

Olaf Hvattum Age Sector Reference Group
Kevin Doherty Disability Action
Tony O’Reilly Equality Commission for Northern Ireland
Alan Preston Mobility and Inclusion Unit (DRD)
Janet Watson Mobility and Inclusion Unit (DRD)
Claire Toner General Consumer Council
Ryan Simpson General Consumer Council

Key Issues for the Review of
Concessionary Fares Scheme in
Northern Ireland

September 2006

Any enquiry concerning this document should be made to
Michael Lorimer , Executive Secretary,
IMTAC, 189 Airport Road West

Belfast , BT3 9ED

Tel: 028 90 297885
Fax: 028 90 297881
Textphone: 028 90 297885
Email: Info@tacni.org.uk
Website: www.imtac.org.uk

 

1 Introduction

Imtac is a committee of disabled people and older people as well as others including key transport professionals. Our role is to advise Government and others in Northern Ireland on issues that affect the mobility of older people and disabled people.

Our aim is to ensure that older people and disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else to travel when and where they want.

Imtac receives support from the Department for Regional Development.

2 Background

Concessionary travel arrangements have developed in a piecemeal manner in Northern Ireland over the past decade. Currently the Concessionary Fares Scheme offers free travel on public transport to older people aged 65 and over, free travel to some groups of disabled people and half fare travel to other disabled people.

During the last few years organisations representing older people and disabled people have highlighted a series difficulties and inequalities created by existing arrangements. These issues restrict the impact of the programme in addressing its stated aim of reducing social exclusion. The decision to review the current Concessionary Fares Scheme as part of the Accessible Transport Strategy was widely welcomed by both the disability and older person’s sectors.

In advance of the proposed Review the Department has asked Imtac to identify key issues for the Review. Imtac’s postion on the Review of Concessionary Fares has been informed through aspects of our work. These include:

• Discussions with disabled people and older people through our outreach work
• Discussions with organisations of and representing older people and disabled people
• Our participation in the consultation process during the development of the Accessible Transport Strategy (ATS)
• Our monitoring of developments in concessionary travel in Great Britain
• Our own research into good practice and innovation in providing concessionary travel

Other organisations of and representing older people and disabled people have been active in raising issues around the current Scheme. Imtac has, in line with our work programme objectives, talked to a number of organisations to further inform our position with regard to the Review. As a result Imtac believes that the issues we have identified to be addressed by the Review are the key issues for older people and disabled people.

3 Key Issues for the Review

Through our work with the organisations listed above we have identified the following common issues which need to be addressed as part of the Review.

(i) Assessing the impact of the current scheme

Imtac recommends that the review examine the quantitative and qualitative data around the existing scheme with a view to assessing how the scheme meets its aim of promoting social inclusion. In particular the Department should examine patterns around usage of the scheme.

(ii) Ensuring parity with Great Britain

Over the past number of years concessionary travel schemes operated by local authorities in Great Britain have had to meet national standards. This sets a minimum standard of free off peak travel on buses for older people and disabled people. The Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament and many local authorities in England have gone beyond these standards.

Imtac recommends the review should give consideration to setting minimum standards for concessionary fares in Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the United Kingdom. In particular the review should look at:-

• Free travel for men and women from age of 60
• Adopting the Department for Transport Guidance on eligibility for disabled people to concessionary travel
• Extending free travel to all the eligible groups of disabled people

(iii) Broadening concessionary travel arrangements

Many disabled people and older people cannot avail of the current scheme. This may be because of the lack of accessible public transport or the absence of services altogether. This problem is particularly acute in rural areas. Many local authorities across Great Britain have recognised this issue and broadened the scope of their schemes beyond the minimum standards. For example local authorities may run a taxi card or voucher scheme or offer free travel on door to door services.

Imtac recommends that the review examine broadening arrangements for concessionary travel to benefit more people who cannot avail of existing arrangements. In particular two areas should be addressed:-

• Alternative concessionary travel arrangements for people in rural areas, complimenting the work of the Rural Transport Fund (Rtf)
• Concessionary travel for people living urban areas who cannot use conventional public transport, complimenting the work of the Transport Programme for People with Disabilities (TPPD)

(iv) Simplifying the administration of the Scheme

Feedback from users and potential users of the current scheme has indicated that the way the scheme is run at present can act as deterrent for older people and disabled people.

Imtac recommends that the review look at how changes to the administration of scheme could make things easier for users and potential users of the scheme. In particular we would like the Department to address:-

• The provision of information and marketing of the scheme
• The requirement to buy tickets for every stage of a journey

4 Conclusion

Imtac welcomes the opportunity to take part in the pre-consultation in advance of the proposed Review of the Concessionary Fares Scheme. We hope the Department finds the issues raised in this paper useful and informative. Imtac would like to acknowledge and thank all organisations that contributed to the development of this paper.

Imtac is happy to discuss in more detail with the Department any of the issues raised in this paper prior to the formal review of the scheme. We look forward to working with the Department once the Review begins.

ImtacMembers

Frank Caddy Chair
William Stewart Vice-Chair
Alison Black
Philip Blair
Maureen Brennan
Terry Butler
Ann Collins Convenor Personal Mobility Group
Sinclair Duncan
Barbara Fleming
Tom Hoey Convenor Public Transport Group
Karen Magill
Gerry Maguire
Henry Mayne
Joe McCusker
David McDonald Convenor Information & Training Group
Geraldine Mulhern
Andrew Murdock
Bryan Myles
Alan Sheeran
Colin Spence

More information on our members is available on our website, visit www.imtac.org.uk.

Observers

Kevin Doherty Disability Action
Gregor Kerr Mobility and Inclusion Unit (DRD)
Olaf Hvattum Age Sector Reference Group
Eddie Lynch General Consumer Council

Secretariat

Michael Lorimer Executive Secretary
Jill Shanks Administrator