A proposed plan to trial free bus passes for under-22s in England will not go ahead as it is “unaffordable” at the moment, the government has said.The trial was one of a number of recommendations put forward by the Transport Committee, a cross-party group of backbench MPs, in a report this August – with the suggestion it would boost access to jobs and education. In its response, published on Friday, the government said no money was available for such a scheme during the current spending review period, which runs until 2028/2029. Responding to the government’s decision, committee chair Ruth Cadbury accused the Department for Transport of “lacking in ambition”.”Throughout our inquiry we heard about the consequences of poor connectivity,” Labour MP Cadbury said. “Young people unable to get their first jobs or taking exhausting journeys to reach school or college. Older and disabled people feeling isolated and depressed, and high streets starved of customers.””It is hard to shake the feeling that an opportunity may be missed, particularly to improve services in rural and underserved communities.” Since January 2022, everyone in Scotland aged between five and 22 has been entitled to free bus travel.The announcement of the government’s plans on under-22 bus travel in England comes in the week when the Bus Services Act has become law. Welcomed by the committee, it will place tougher requirements on operators that wish to cancel certain services and give local authorities more control, including through franchising. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the new law would make it “easier for local leaders to take control of their buses” and was “putting passengers first”. Cadbury said while the new law is “positive and necessary” it cannot be “the last word”. Of the other recommendations put forward by the committee, some were received positively. These included a suggestion that funding should …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnA proposed plan to trial free bus passes for under-22s in England will not go ahead as it is “unaffordable” at the moment, the government has said.The trial was one of a number of recommendations put forward by the Transport Committee, a cross-party group of backbench MPs, in a report this August – with the suggestion it would boost access to jobs and education. In its response, published on Friday, the government said no money was available for such a scheme during the current spending review period, which runs until 2028/2029. Responding to the government’s decision, committee chair Ruth Cadbury accused the Department for Transport of “lacking in ambition”.”Throughout our inquiry we heard about the consequences of poor connectivity,” Labour MP Cadbury said. “Young people unable to get their first jobs or taking exhausting journeys to reach school or college. Older and disabled people feeling isolated and depressed, and high streets starved of customers.””It is hard to shake the feeling that an opportunity may be missed, particularly to improve services in rural and underserved communities.” Since January 2022, everyone in Scotland aged between five and 22 has been entitled to free bus travel.The announcement of the government’s plans on under-22 bus travel in England comes in the week when the Bus Services Act has become law. Welcomed by the committee, it will place tougher requirements on operators that wish to cancel certain services and give local authorities more control, including through franchising. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the new law would make it “easier for local leaders to take control of their buses” and was “putting passengers first”. Cadbury said while the new law is “positive and necessary” it cannot be “the last word”. Of the other recommendations put forward by the committee, some were received positively. These included a suggestion that funding should …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
