Decision to drop West Sussex free senior railcard scheme is called in

Like all authorities, West Sussex County Council has a statutory duty to administer the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), providing free off-peak bus travel for eligible older and disabled people.

There is no such legal duty to provide the railcard scheme.

The decision to scrap it would affect 2,000 older people while saving the council around £50,000 per year.

A council spokesman said all railcard holders would be able to use their cards until the expiry date and would then be given a free bus pass.

They could also buy a replacement Senior Person’s Rail Card from National Rail for £30 for one year or £70 for three years.

But the decision has been called-in by Labour county councillors.

They are concerned about the ‘negative message’ it would send and argue it would conflict with the county council’s policies to encourage the use of public transport.

Their call-in request points out that the current scheme is very helpful for residents who live in urban areas with frequent train services, but also for those in more rural areas with a train line where bus provision is very limited.

Michael Jones, Labour group leader, said: “Once again, we are in a crazy position where the county council tells us they want people to be using public transport and the council is claiming it is really taking emissions and the climate emergency seriously, yet their next act is to make it even more difficult for people to use their local public transport network.

“The rail cards have been made even more important for many local pensioners who rely on the concessionary travel system because the West Sussex Tories have already cut so many socially valuable bus routes they used to fund. Not only is this quite frankly a derisory saving for the social damage it is going to do for many older people who rely on being able to use the train, it is also going to do a lot of harm and take this county backwards.”

Fellow Labour county councillor Brian Quinn added: “This is the wrong way for the council to be going. It should be recognised in many parts of the county that the bus service doesn’t serve the local pensioners as well as it could and if they are lucky enough to live near a railway station, this can be a great help to them as an alternative.

“I actually think that this scheme would be far more popular if a lot of pensioners knew it had existed in the first place and I know when we had the consultation many pensioners were telling me they wish they’d known about it.

“Rather than trying to knock it on the head, the Tories at the county council should be promoting it. I genuinely hope the powers that be will listen.”

The call-in will now be discussed by the council’s environment and communities scrutiny committee.

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