Kevin Rowan column

Jan 16 2006 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal

The headline- grabbing irony that in April there will be free bus travel for pensioners, but less buses, has caused a mixture of reactions - from disbelief that this can be happening, anxiety that pensioners are getting blamed for a reduction in public transport services, to frustration that current public funding arrangements are, yet again, penalising the people of the North-East and Cumbria.

Gordon Brown decided to announce the Labour Government's intention to introduce free bus travel for pensioners during the run-up to last year's General Election campaign.

Many saw this as an opportunistic attempt to swing the pensioners' vote (what politician wouldn't?), but no-one is arguing too strongly against the principle of free bus travel for pensioners. This is an intoxicating acknowledgement of the whole ethos of public service; that the State is there to provide vital services for those who need it.

Subsidised bus travel also exists for students, schoolchildren and people with disabilities - I know that with the right funding Nexus would also want to provide subsidised travel for jobseekers and even those in low-paid occupations, as a direct benefit supporting the development of the region's economy.

Public services, however, always depend upon public funding to make them work equitably and effectively.

This particular example of concept not marrying well with implementation exposes one of the most critical flaws in the way in which public funding allocations are made.

It is not true to suggest that the Treasury hasn't put a good deal of money into the initiative to provide free bus travel for pensioners - an additional £350m has been put into the pot.

But the distribution of that money has been appalling, leaving some local authority areas with a windfall and others, like Tyne and Wear, with a shortfall, in our case £7.3m.

This is because the funding has not been distributed on the basis of need, ie the most money going to areas with the largest pensioner usage of public transport. Instead it has been based on population, once again leaving the North-East with a much smaller slice of the cake than other areas of the country. And more importantly, this mechanism has left some areas with more than they need and Tyne and Wear facing cuts in services.

The problem with this mechanism is it is not based on need, and is always likely to perpetuate the North-South divide, and restrict our capacity to challenge the economic and social conditions that contribute to it. This is what we should be trying to change.