Concessionary fares.

DfT issued a consultation on the administration of concessionary travel from 2011 onwards.

The three main options are to leave responsibilities with the existing Travel Concession Authorities, to consolidate powers at County level (where two tier local government remains) or centralize everything with DfT. There are subsidiary questions about the powers of local councils to give extra benefits, even if schemes are administered elsewhere. DfT is known to favour the "middle option". CPT's response is that any arrangements should be transparent, efficient and fair. Most operators would prefer to spend less time on concessionary negotiations and data processing, which would make consolidation attractive. If the smallest authorities are left with the right to negotiate extra concessions for their residents, they should no longer have the right to impose these on transport operators, in CPT's view.

At a meeting at DfT last week, academics from the Institute of Transport Studies at Leeds University reported in the progress of their work for DfT on the economic basis of reimbursement. A number of interesting facts are beginning to emerge, some of them helpful to the operators' case, some of them not. It remains to be seen how the results of the work (when it is completed) will flow through to changes in DfT's guidance on reimbursement.

The Local Government Association has commissioned consultants to look at the likely future trends in the relationship between the funding that councils and PTEs get from the Government and their outlay on reimbursement to operators.