"Free" bus travel could cost Rother taxpayers £160,000

The figure is revealed by Rother leader Cllr Carl Maynard in his response to a question raised via his Ask The Leader slot on the council's www.rother.gov.uk website.

The questioner asked: "How much does the concessionary travel scheme for the over 60s cost the council each year?

"Is all the money reimbursed by central government?"

The leader said: "The current free local scheme is likely to exceed the budget by up to 250,000 due to a high level of take up in 2007-2008.

"With regard to the free national scheme, the draft budget for next year, 2008-2009, has been increased to just under 878,000.

"Prior to 2008-2009 the Government grant received by the council was part of the overall grant funding and is therefore not specifically identifiable.

"However, the council has been told it will receive additional specific grant for the national scheme of 297,000 in 2008-2009 and it is estimated that total Government support will be in the region of 797,000 per annum.

"Consequently it is estimated there will be a shortfall in funding of around 80,000 per annum. This is based on assumptions around the reimbursement rates to the bus companies and the volume of journeys undertaken.

"As we have seen in 2007-2008, this is very difficult to predict with accuracy and the shortfall in funding could be as much as 160,000 each year."