Guidance

Concessionary travel survey, guidance for authorities: 2024

Updated 27 November 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

This guidance goes alongside the 2024 Concessionary Travel Survey. A link to the survey has been emailed to you, along with your username and password for accessing it.

You may find it helpful to read this guidance before starting the survey and to have a copy to hand whilst working through the questions.

For the 2024 survey, the online survey platform has been upgraded to a more modern system with:

• a new user interface
• better functionality
• better backend support

As a result, the descriptions here might vary slightly from what’s presented online.

Contact us

If this guidance does not help answer your question, please feel free to contact the Department for Transport (DfT) team.

Aim of the survey

The aim of this survey is to seek information from Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs) on their concessionary travel schemes and reimbursement arrangements. The information is mainly used to refine DfT reimbursement guidance and inform concessionary travel policy.

The data will not be used to assess the validity of any existing reimbursement practices adopted by individual Local Authorities.

This survey is on the MHCLG Single Data List which contains all data that local authorities must provide to Central Government.

The results of the previous survey were published by DfT in November 2023.

Survey sections

1. TCA Scheme details
2. Concessionary passes
3. Concessionary bus journeys
4. Expenditure on concessionary travel
5. Reimbursement total
6. Reimbursement breakdown
7. Reimbursement methods
8. Discretionary concessions
9. Concessions for young people
10. Internet Presence
11. Engaging with Eligible Residents
12. Pass production
13. Commercially sensitive data and Sign-off

TCAs which are part of a concessionary travel scheme

If your TCA is part of a scheme with multiple TCAs, we still ask that a return is submitted for each TCA, with data relating to that individual TCA. If there are any questions which you are unable to answer at individual TCA-level, please contact DfT as soon as possible.

If you cannot supply all of the figures requested

Where we have asked for a disaggregation of a total figure and you are unable to supply all of the elements of the total, please leave the boxes for the missing elements blank, rather than entering zero.

In these cases, if you can supply a different breakdown from that specified in the question (for example, if you have been asked for the number of older passes and the number of disabled passes, but you can only supply a figure for these two categories combined), please do so as part of your comments on the data.

Supplying commercially sensitive information

The Department will try and publish as much information as possible at TCA-level. However, we appreciate that some of the information requested is commercially sensitive. There is an opportunity at the end of the survey to specify which of your survey answers are commercially sensitive and we will use this when deciding what data should be published at TCA-level.

Subject to fulfilling any statutory obligations, the Department will not make public any information that you have told us is commercially sensitive without prior consultation with the parties involved. If any of the information supplied is commercially sensitive, we would request that authorities seek written permission from the bus operator to supply such information to the Department.

Thank you for completing the survey.

Section 0 - TCA details

Question 1

We will require a return for each Travel Concession Authority.

Section 1 - Concessionary passes

Question 3

A possible basis for calculating the annual average could be (“number of passes with valid expiry dates at 1 April 2023” + “number of passes with valid expiry dates at 31 March 2024”)/2.

To avoid double-counting, a disabled person of eligible age holding a valid disabled pass should be categorised as ‘disabled pass holder’. A disabled person of eligible age holding a valid older person pass should be categorized as ‘older pass holder’.

Question 3a - ENCTS passes

Passes issued to older and disabled people who qualify for a pass under the statutory eligibility criteria.

Statutory older passes look like this: [IMAGE OMITTED]

Statutory disabled passes look like this: [IMAGE OMITTED]

Please do not count any other passes in answering this question.

Question 3b - Discretionary passes for older people

Only include passes issued to older people who would not otherwise qualify under the statutory criteria, so older people below the statutory eligibility age.

Question 3c - Discretionary passes for disabled people

Only include passes issued to disabled people who would not otherwise qualify under the statutory criteria, so disabled passes for people with mental impairments or less severe disabilities than those listed in the statutory criteria.

See some examples of how passes should be categorized below:

We only issue passes to older and disabled people who meet the statutory criteria. How should I record these?

You should record these as ENCTS passes only in question 3a, 3ai and 3aii.

We offer disabled pass holders a companion pass. Where should I list these?

The disabled passes themselves should be listed as either ENCTS disabled passes (if the disabled person would qualify for the pass under statutory criteria) or discretionary disabled passes (if the disabled person would not qualify under the statutory criteria). In question 3d, please tell us how many of these disabled passes come with a companion entitlement, either as part of the disabled pass itself or an additional pass issued alongside the disabled pass.

My TCA offers extra benefits to our pass-holders when they are over 70. Should I list these as ENCTS passes or as discretionary passes?

The extra benefits aren’t relevant for this question, we are just interested in the pass-holders themselves and how they qualify for a pass. In the example above, although you offer extra benefits to your over-70 pass holders, they would still qualify for a pass under the statutory criteria, so they should only be counted as ENCTS passes and not as discretionary passes.

My TCA offers passes to our residents once they are 60. Where should I count these?

Any passes issued to older people that do not look like the ENCTS pass below should be counted as discretionary older passes in question 3b. [IMAGE OMITTED]

We offer passes to young people and unemployed people. Where should I record these?

We only require estimates of the number of older and disabled passes, so please do not include other passes here. However, there will be an opportunity in Section 9 to tell us about concessions offered to people who aren’t older or disabled.

We offer extra benefits to some of our disabled pass holders. Should I list these as ENCTS passes or as discretionary passes?

The extra benefits aren’t relevant for this question, we are just interested in the pass-holders themselves and how they qualify for a pass. In the example above, if the disabled residents would have qualified for a disabled pass under the statutory criteria, they should be counted as ENCTS passes (Question 3aii). If they would not qualify under the statutory criteria, they should be counted as discretionary passes (Question 3c).

My TCA offers passes to disabled people who are less severely disabled than the statutory criteria. Where should I count these?

Passes issued to disabled people who would not qualify for a pass under the statutory criteria should be counted as discretionary passes (Question 3c).

Section 2 - Concessionary bus journeys

Question 4a

Include bus journeys (both statutory and discretionary) by all older and disabled pass holders (both statutory and discretionary) which are subject to reimbursement. Exclude journeys on other modes or by other groups (for example, young people, unemployed people).

Question 4b

Include only bus journeys by ENCTS pass holders under the statutory scheme. For example, exclude journeys made before 9:30am or journeys made by older and disabled people who do not hold an ENCTS pass.

Section 3 - Expenditure on concessionary travel

Question 5

Net Current Expenditure (NCE) is net expenditure on the whole travel concession service. This includes spend on statutory and discretionary concessions, including bus concessions, concessions on other modes, concessions for older and disabled people and concessions for other groups (for example, young people), where applicable.

NCE includes operator reimbursement, administration, pass-issue costs and employee expenses; net of fees and charges, internal recharges and other non-grant income. (How much your finance department allocates to you from MHCLG formula grant is irrelevant to this question. We are purely interested in net spending here).

Question 5a

These figures should be consistent with those provided in the MHCLG RO2 returns.

Question 5b

This should only include expenditure on the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), which is the statutory minimum travel concession that TCAs are required to offer eligible older and disabled people: Free local bus travel anywhere in England between 9:30am and 11pm on weekdays and at anytime at weekends and bank holidays. In London the statutory minimum concession for eligible older and disabled London residents is free travel on journeys on the London Local Transport Network (including buses, trams and trains) at any time at weekends and bank holidays and from midnight to 4:30am and the period from 9:30am to midnight on any other day.

Question 5c

ENCTS ENHANCEMENTS are discretionary travel concessions offered only to ENCTS pass holders on production of their ENCTS pass. For example, free or discounted taxi, tram, rail travel for ENCTS pass holders, bus travel before 9:30am for ENCTS pass holders.

Question 5d

OTHER CONCESSIONS are discretionary travel concessions offered to non-ENCTS pass holders, such as young people, unemployed people and older and disabled people who do not meet the qualifying criteria for an ENCTS pass.

Section 4 - Reimbursement total

Question 6

This should include reimbursement for statutory and discretionary concessionary bus trips made by ENCTS passholders only. Please also note that the reimbursement figure should be consistent with figures given in questions 7 and 8. Therefore, “Total reimbursement to bus operators for ENCTS passholders” = “Revenue Forgone” + “Additional Costs”. If this is not the case then please give details as to why in question 9.

Section 5 - Reimbursement breakdown

Question 7a

REVENUE FORGONE is the revenue bus operators would have received from those concessionary passengers who would otherwise have travelled and paid for a fare in the absence of a scheme.

If you are using the DfT reimbursement guidance, Revenue forgone = Average fare forgone x non-generated trips, Non-generated trips = Total observed trips at full fare x reimbursement factor.

If you are not using the DfT reimbursement guidance then you may have a different method for calculating non-generated journeys (you can explain your method in question 10).

Question 7b

AVERAGE FARE FORGONE is the average fare that bus operators would have received from concessionary passengers in the absence of the free fare concessionary scheme. It should include the impact of the different ticket types available for multiple journeys and discounted fares offered.

If the average fare is different across operators, please calculate a TCA average weighted by concessionary journeys [for example, (OpA trips x fare + OpB trips x fare)/(OpA trips + OpB trips)].

Question 8a

GENERATED JOURNEYS are those journeys made by concessionary bus pass holders who are only travelling as a result of the existence of the scheme. If you are using the DfT reimbursement guidance, generated journeys are calculated as total observed concessionary journeys x Generation Factor (GF) where GF = (1-RF) and RF is the Reimbursement Factor.

If you are not using the DfT reimbursement guidance then you may have a different method for calculating generated journeys (you can explain your method in question 10).

Question 8b

ADDITIONAL COSTS - where an operator’s cost base rises as a result of carrying generated passengers, a TCA may be paying for these costs through an identified payment. These costs may arise to cover extra fuel, wear and tear, (Marginal Operating Costs), as a result of an increase in service frequency (Marginal Capacity Costs) or as a result of additional vehicles being provided (Peak Vehicle Requirement costs). Additional costs also include scheme administration costs.

Please note that the additional costs figure should be consistent with figures given in later parts of this survey (so figures provided for questions 8bi to 8biv should sum to the total additional cost figure provided). If this is not the case then please give details as to why in question 10.

Question 8bi

SCHEME ADMINISTRATION costs to be reimbursed to bus operators exclude pass production costs but include publicity, ticketing, software changes and management time. If scheme administration costs have been subsumed within the other cost categories in question 8b, please leave the boxes for question 8bi blank and provide further details in question 10 to explain which of the cost categories include scheme administration costs.

Question 8bii

MOCs are the costs to a bus operator of carrying an additional passenger assuming a fixed level of service. The components of this cost include additional fuel, tyres and oil, maintenance and cleaning, insurance, information and additional time costs. They exclude operators’ administration and management time.

Question 8biii

MCCs are the costs to a bus operator of carrying additional passengers and allowing the capacity of bus services to increase by using the existing bus fleet more intensively to provide that additional capacity through increased frequency.

Question 8biv

PVR COSTS are associated with the requirement to run additional vehicles in the peak period due to generated concessionary travel. The occurrence of PVR tends to be exceptional.

Section 6 - Reimbursement methods

Please answer the questions on reimbursement methods thinking about your reimbursement negotiations and calculations for the year ending March 2024.

Question 10

Answer yes if you have agreements of a fixed sum over a fixed period with any bus operator.

Question 13

Hotlisting is the process through which Travel Concession Authorities can ensure invalid permits (those that have been reported lost or stolen) are blocked from further use. Smart bus ticket machines are loaded with a hotlist of cards that are to be deactivated, if any are presented to the smartcard reader the cancellation will be enacted.

Question 14a and 14b

The average fare forgone is used to calculate the revenue forgone. DfT guidance recommends the use of the Discounted Fare Method to calculate the average fare forgone. This method may not be appropriate in certain circumstances, in which case DfT guidance recommends the use of the Basket of Fares method to calculate the average fare forgone. If you have used either of these methods please check yes in question 14a or 14b.

Question 14c

The RF Calculator, based on the Single Demand Curve, is used to calculate the reimbursement factor. Users enter data on the change in fares between the year ending March 2006 and the year of calculation in the DfT Calculator and the Reimbursement Factor is calculated automatically. There is a choice of two curves, one for areas with PTE characteristics and one for non-PTEs.

Question 14d

The DfT guidance and calculator provides a standard formula to calculate Marginal Operating Costs (MOCs) in pence per generated trip. The default value is 6.1p (year ending March 2010 prices), with an option to vary the MOC value with average concessionary trip length. Please check yes in question 14d if you use the MOC element of the guidance for some or all of your operators.

Question 14e

The DfT reimbursement guidance and calculator provides a model to calculate Marginal capacity costs (MCCs) but this does not preclude the use of other methods (for example, counterfactual or hypothetical network models). Please tick box 14e if you use the DfT model to estimate MCCs and specify whether you use the default values in the DfT guidance or local values (or a mixture of both).

Question 14f

PVR costs are exceptional and claim-based but the DfT guidance provides some advice on how to calculate PVR costs. Please check yes in question 14f if you have followed the guidance to estimate PVR costs.

Section 7 - Discretionary concessions

Please tell us about the discretionary concessions (over and above the statutory minimum concession) that are being offered in the year ending March 2025. We would like to know whether these apply to older passholders, disabled passholders, both, or neither.

The statutory minimum concession is free local bus travel anywhere in England between 9:30am and 11:00pm on weekdays and at anytime at weekends and bank holidays.

In London the statutory minimum concession for eligible older and disabled London residents is free travel on journeys on the London Local Transport Network (including buses, trams and trains) at any time at weekends and bank holidays and from midnight to 4:30am and the period from 9:30am to midnight on any other day.

Question 16h

Please answer Yes if you offer provisions for care leavers to obtain a free or discounted bus fare.

This optional question has been added to improve the evidence available on what support is being provided for care leavers across the country.

Question 17e

Please answer Yes if you offer provisions for a companion travelling with a disabled person to obtain a free or discounted bus fare. Please specify whether the companion is entitled to free or discounted bus travel, whether there is a charge for the companion pass and whether there are restrictions on the categories of disabilities for eligibility.

Section 8 - Concessions for young people

Please answer the questions on youth concessions thinking about concessions offered during the year ending March 2025.

Question 20

This question concerns commercial concessions only (those controlled, managed or funded by a bus operator). We are aware that you may not know of all the youth schemes offered in your area, but any information you can supply here does offer us a useful starting point for gathering further information from operator websites.

If possible please specify the name of the operator, the age group (for example 16 to 18) covered, the fare charged (free, half, flat), time period (term-time only (all year), 8:30 to 10:30) and any other relevant information. You will have an opportunity in question 22 to tell us about any youth schemes that your TCA controls, manages or funds.

Question 22

This question concerns only concessions controlled, managed and funded by the TCA scheme. Do not include any commercial concessions offered by bus operators here. Please include information on whether the fare charged is a flat fare, half fare or any other basis and add any other relevant information.

Section 9 - Internet presence

Questions 24 and 25

This question is to identify if and where information on concessionary travel is made available online.

Section 10 - Engaging with eligible residents

Question 26

This question is to identify if you actively promote concessionary travel schemes in your Authority.

Section 11 - Pass production

Question 27

This optional question has been added to understand how your Authority obtains the physical passes to operate the ENCTS scheme, including how the secure holograms are ordered and installed into those passes.

Section 12 - Commercially sensitive data and sign off

Questions 28 and 29

The Department appreciates that some of the information requested will be commercially sensitive. Please specify in question 28 which elements of the survey are confidential.

Subject to fulfilling any statutory obligations, the Department will not make public any information that you have told us is commercially sensitive without prior consultation with the parties involved. If any of the information provided is commercially sensitive we would request that authorities seek written permission from the bus operator to supply such information to the Department.

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