25 February - The Freedom Pass
The
January Cabinet meeting which I forgot about briefly discussed the
Freedom Pass which hit the headlines at the end of the last year when London
Councils thought it was costing too much and may have discussed what might be done about
it. My TfL contact said it was to be downgraded to a bus pass and trains would
become chargeable. Where he got that from I have no idea but his view seems to be fairly widespread; so what did the Bexley
London Councils representative have to say about it?
Councillor Richard Diment reminded people of what the Pass was and that it is paid for by
individual Councils and not the Mayor. He said he was at the London Councils meeting
in December and it is part of his brief to approve the Freedom Pass
budget. He was as surprised by the “at risk” press reports that followed the December meeting as
anyone else. “Games are being played by some people to insinuate that the
Freedom Pass is at risk.” He added that Sadiq Khan has said the only way to save
the Freedom Pass is to vote Labour but was too polite to say that is another of
his lies.
“The reality is that the only people who can harm the Freedom Pass is the Labour Party because the rules are enshrined within central
legislation, the 1999 Greater London Act, so it can only be changed by central
Government probably at the behest of a majority of London boroughs, so some
really serious games are being played.”
“Our contribution [Bexley’s] to our residents’ Freedom Pass is safe and next year’s
contribution will be £7·7 million. Some London boroughs are paying around
twice as much [because of Underground services] but I want to make it absolutely
clear that as far as this administration is concerned the Freedom Pass is
absolutely safe. The scaremongering comes from other political parties.”
Labour Leader Stefano Borella said that all Labour Councils in London,
as in
Bexley, are backing the Freedom Pass. “No Labour politician wants to remove it
and it is the Liberal Democrats on the London Councils committee who are playing
games. They said it was a very expensive burden and that is where the games are
coming from but we have no Liberal Democrats here fortunately. I can assure you
that no Labour politician wants to remove the Freedom Pass and that is where we are going to keep it.”
Cabinet Member Richard Diment said that the total cost of the Freedom Pass is about
£470 million and forecast to rise by around 20% over the next five years. We should negotiate better with TfL but the
Freedom Pass is safe. We are all in favour of it. Residents should not be
alarmed. Withdrawal was not the discussion at London Councils in any shape or form.
Note: I read somewhere that Councils are charged based on
where a journey starts from.