Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) viability and (b) potential impact on staff retention of providing free public transport for social care workers.

The statutory English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England also have the discretion to offer concessions over and above the statutory minimum, including to other groups of people such as social care workers. The implementation of such local schemes is a matter for individual authorities, based upon their assessment of local need and funding priorities, paying for them through local resources like Council Tax.