May be of Interest to Bus Pass Users
Currently pensioners who have bus passes can only use them in their Home Country of residence. There is a petition calling for the authorities to "negotiate reciprocal agreements with the devolved administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland" so that bus passes could be used throughout the UK. The Petition can be viewed here.
David
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Done!
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Thanks for link
done
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We have signed as well👍
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Nice to see the numbers signing going up. I came across it in one of the newsfeeds I get which led to me posting here. Perhaps pass the link on to others you know who might find it useful. On the petition web page you can also see the votes by Parliamentary Constituency on the map option which is quite interesting.
David
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Just tried to post it on the CAMC Members Chat Group Facebook group but rejected as political despite the fact that it would probably help a lot of their members if it came to pass!
David
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A rather ridiculous stance to be honest.
“Political” topics are where people debate, argue, fall out over the manifestos and doctrinal beliefs of individual political parties, and quite rightly not going to be a peaceful enough subject for a chat site such as a touring group.
A simple campaign allowing bus passes to be used across the whole UK, regardless of which ever political party is in power is something that will be of interest to the general public no matter what or even if they vote🤷♀️
Some folks with a teeny bit of “authority” are often unable to climb down off their own personal pulpits, hence some of the ridiculous stances taken over very simple ideas.🤨
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TDA
Quite agree. For all we know there could be unanimity across the political spectrum for this idea, just perhaps needs a nudge? With regards to the Group I still don't understand how the Club allows them to identify themselves as a quasi CMC forum using the name and logo!
David
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I know about the Club’s own FB page, and I think many moons ago, (years, possibly before the 2016 upgrade) some folks set up another chat group on FB, that had a long list of do’s and don’ts, and what things you could and couldn’t mention and you had to apply for access?
I don’t use FB, but surprised when I looked yesterday that there seems to be more than one CAMC FB chat group. Splinter group maybe, or specialist interest🤷♀️
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I think this will be difficult to implement unless the eligibility criteria for senior bus passes are standardised across the nations and English local authorities. A campaign to standardise eligibility would be a better starting point before moving to reciprocal arrangements.
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There lies another conundrum. Never mind the devolved nations, why do only folks 60+ in London get a bus pass. 😡
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A bus pass is a bus pass in my view. Putting any extra costs to one side it would be simple enough to say that if you can use buses in England you could use buses in Scotland, Wales or NI, and the other way rounds of course. This is the minimum benefit across all parts of the UK. Some individual local authorities may provide a more generous scheme such as London which has been mentioned but I assume that London Council Tax payers foot the bill for that, not the UK or devolved Parliaments. My understanding is that in England the UK Government underwrite the basic scheme and any additions are paid locally. Just as an example, when we were in South Shields a couple of years ago I noticed locals could use their bus passes on the Tyne Ferry but outsiders could not. I think it perfectly fair for a local authority to decide to include extras for their own residents but not to the wider public.
David
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Got the bus pass, now send me a bus.
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Just an update. I noticed today that the petition has now achieved the 10,000 votes which means the Government now need to provide an answer. I am not confident that it will be positive but perhaps I should wait and see?
David
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The Petition has now reached over 15000 signatures.
The other news is that the Government has responded, unfortunately negatively, why am I not surprised. They did say that there is provision in the 2007 Act to allow mutual use of Bus Passes. However their reason (excuse?) is that the four countries that make up the UK have differing ages at which you are entitled to a pass and some have more generous options. Maybe its just me but I would have thought that if you have a bus pass issued in Scotland, regardless of the age of qualification and other enhanced benefits, all you would be using in England, Wales or NI is to get a free ride on a bus. I don't see where the complication is?
David
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Sensible decision at government level. It will save taxpayers stumping up more money for OAPs on holiday to ride free on buses
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A bit of an artificial argument that, because different English authorities have different terms. Eg here in Lincs we don’t need to wait until 9.30 am to use my pass but when I go to my regular hospital appt in Nottingham and catch the bus from the park and ride I have to pay if it is before 9.30.
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Due to the General Election all Government Petitions have been closed, although this one was due to close in June anyway. This did eventually reach 15593 signatures and the Government did provided a response, albeit a negative one! Rather than this thread mysteriously reappearing in the future I will now close to future contributions but thanks to all those that contributed.
David
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