Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend free bus travel for people with disabilities to include peak hours.

The statutory minimum bus travel concession scheme applies to off-peak travel when there is likely to be unused operational capacity on buses. Concessionary bus travel applies to bus journeys made between 9.30am and 11.00pm Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on bank holidays. These times were set out in legislation in the Transport Act 2000. Whilst I appreciate that concessionary pass holders might wish to use buses before 9.30am, in the current economic climate there are no plans to extend the statutory scheme to include peak time travel.

I would point out that the statutory minimum is indeed just that – a minimum. It remains very much open to each local authority to decide whether to offer its residents local concessions over and above the statutory minimum, including peak hour concessions.