London pensioners have long enjoyed free travel across the whole of the city’s transport network, including the Underground and Overground rail services, in contrast to much of the rest of the country.
However, London Councils, the umbrella body that administers the scheme on behalf of the local authorities for the capital’s 32 boroughs and the City of London, is launching a review, which could recommend that free travel for Londoners aged 66 and above be restricted solely to bus services.
The annual cost of the scheme is expected to increase by more than 10 per cent this year to £372 million. The scheme is ultimately paid for by taxpayers in local authorities, and the payments effectively offer compensation to operators, including Transport for London, as well as bus and rail concession operators.
The increased bill comes at the same time as London’s local authorities face a spending squeeze in other areas, from social care to special needs provision.
In much of the rest of the country, the Freedom Pass allows Britons aged 66 and older to access free off-peak bus travel. In London, that travel concession is extended to all forms of available travel.
Each Freedom Pass is issued by a London borough
Stephen Boon, the chief operating officer at London Councils, told a pre-Christmas meeting that the scheme’s costs would be reduced to £224 million per year if London’s Freedom Pass entitlements were reduced solely to bus services.
Increased use of the network by those using a Freedom Pass has driven costs, as has a change to the way Elizabeth Line journeys are calculated. For the first time this year, TfL will also charge London Councils for the cost of Oyster cards that the Freedom Pass benefits are attached to. That amounts to £1.50 per card multiplied by the anticipated number of passes, nearly 400,000.
The Elizabeth Line opened in 2022
RICHARD BAKER/GETTY IMAGES
In agenda papers for a meeting of London Councils’ transport and environment committee, Boon said that the Society of London Treasurers — a grouping of the London boroughs’ chief financial officers — had “expressed concern about the growing cost of the Freedom Pass scheme.”
Boon said his officers “will continue to work … to identify what other policy options might be used to control the cost of the scheme in future.”
The story was first reported by the Evening Standard. Any changes to the eligibility criteria would require parliament to make amends to the Greater London Assembly Act 1999.
Alexander Ehmann, a member of the transport and environment committee and a Liberal Democrat councillor in Richmond, described “the cost of the Freedom Pass [as] a ticking time bomb for London local authorities.
“The spiralling costs come at a time where councils such as Richmond are already set to be hobbled by £30 million plus in year cuts, as part of the ironically named ‘fair funding reforms’ of the Labour government.
“Within a handful of years, the bill for London local authorities will be an unsustainable half a billion pounds, so proper financial support from the government is urgent.”
Local authorities in the capital are set to be hit by changes to funding, and many wealthier areas, such as Richmond, are anticipating substantial cuts.
Residents of Liverpool can use their Freedom Pass to use trains, whereas in Manchester older residents can choose to pay an extra £10 for access to trams and trains within the city.
The Freedom Pass is different from the 60+ London Oyster card, which also allows free travel across the network in off-peak hours. This card is administered and “funded” by TfL, though technically TfL writes off the cost as revenue lost. In the past year, TfL missed out on £125 million worth of revenue from 60 to 65-year-olds. The cost is expected to increase to £180 million by 2027.
The 60+ card was introduced by Boris Johnson during his term as mayor, when he moved London away from the rest of the country’s free travel scheme, which was pegged to pension age. Sir Sadiq Khan has extended the scheme.
Last year a TfL spokesman said: “We regularly review our range of concessions to ensure that they continue to benefit Londoners, while also remaining affordable for TfL to operate. There are no plans to discontinue the 60+ Oyster photocard.”
