Financial projection

The Government is keen to see an increase in the use of public transport and, in particular free bus travel for the over 60s. In 2006/07, the council introduced a local scheme which provides free travel within county boundaries for which the Government provided additional funding which was insufficient to pay for it. The actual cost of the scheme is around £1.2m for which the council received and additional government support of £520,000, leaving a funding gap in 2006/07 of approximately £680,000 to be funded locally. From 1st April 2008, the Government introduced a free national travel scheme for over 60s allowing them to travel on buses anywhere in the country. The potential funding shortfall for this is causing much concern for the council and may put further significant pressure on budgets and impact on the delivery of other services.