The cost of providing bus passes for the elderly and disabled in Brighton and Hove is expected to rise to more than £12 million this year, according to a report to the council’s cabinet.
This is expected to exceed the price agreed by Brighton and Hove City Council and the bus companies because of changes to government funding rules and the growing number of people who qualify for a pass.
In March last year, the council negotiated a deal over three years – and a newly published report said that this year it expects to pay £11.3 million.
But government funding rules suggest that the costs in the current financial year are likely to be between £12 million and £12.5 million.
Further financial details are contained in a secret report to the council’s cabinet just days before a meeting is due to take place.
The council’s cabinet is due to be asked to authorise refunding bus companies.
The report said: “Without a fixed deal, payments would automatically default to the government formula based on passenger journeys.
“Our data analysis suggests this would be around £12 million while the bus operators estimate it would be closer to £12.5 million.
“The negotiation has involved some additional funding going into express bus services while also ensuring we focus on bus priority feasibility studies in key areas such as Woodingdean in 2026-27.”
The council is looking to make up the £1.5 million shortfall from a number of sources including extra Bikeshare income, parking staff underspends, late-night parking enforcement and savings from fraud.
In 2025-26, the council spent around £10 million on bus passes which was reduced by using funding from the Department for Transport’s Bus Service Improvement Plan’s (BSIP) grant.
There are more than 42,000 pass holders in Brighton and Hove, with 7,000 passes issued to qualifying disabled residents.
This year the number of qualifying bus pass users has increased by 16 per cent this year after a 10 per cent increase last year.
Every year, the council issues about 2,500 new older people’s passes although this figure is expected to halve as the government increases the qualifying age to 66 and 67 over the next two years.
Brighton and Hove’s concessionary fares scheme allows older people and the disabled to use their passes for longer than the legal minimum of 9.30am to 11pm daily and all day during weekends and bank holidays.
Disabled pass holders can use their passes all day during the week as well as at weekends.
Older people’s passes are valid from 9am to 3.59am during the week and all day at weekends.
These extra hours cost the council £200,000.
The council’s cabinet is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 2pm on Thursday (14 May). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.
How on earth can you put a price on this service? The benefits surely outweigh the cost of a bus pass. I don’t mind not being anonymous!
I see an awful lot of fare dodging.
While the foreign owned Brighton and Hove Buses monopoly made £9.5m profit last year.
It’s much more conplicated than that eg one of the ultimate beneficial owners is the University Superannuation Scheme (pensions for lecturers etc)
What is the cost per journey to the council?
What do other councils pay and bus companies charge?
Is the bus company charging too much?
Are they profiteering?
As far as I know the council pays around 50p per journey with the passes, not the full amount of a single fare
There’s a very complicated system established by the government setting how much can be claimed by companies. It applies to all non franchised bus services in England so B&H Buses is treated exactly the same any other. If you want to look at the detail it’s at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-reimbursing-bus-operators-for-concessionary-travel
I really wish peoole would do some basic research before making grand pronouncements with no factual basis.
Mark, how would the proposed franchising affect the cost of free bus passes and subsidised schemes?
I really wish news articles would fully report the issues and background and that commentators would tone-down their snide back-comments!
Well it would help if some people read the article in the first page!
There is further info on the councils meeting calendar for the cabinet
Of course they’re profiteering. They’re a private company with minimal competition!
It is not as simple as that I’m afraid.
It’s a complicated system depending on how bus companies sell their tickets, what service’s they operate and if they are contracted or franchised operations, then how often the route runs.
To keep it simple, reimbursements are calculated as a bulk at a rate set by Government and applies to all.
As a general rule, bus companies do not get to dictate what they can charge councils for their fares as stated above, prices are set.
All business’s need to make a profit, but where the council is concerned, it’s doubtful bus companies would make much profit, and indeed some routes are run at a loss hence routes like the 37,47, 52 all need additional council funding.
Yet again our Clowncill talks about how much what some would call an essential service, let’s talk about their wasted vanity projects which have cost the residents a small fortune.
Good idea to halt this scheme except for people with severe physical disabilities that do not have a motability car or taxi allowance. The country can no longer afford this an we are paying record taxis.
You’ve focused on the minority there. The main cost comes from giving it out without question to all old people. Disabled people have to do various tests / proofs to get it so there isn’t much abuse of it there. Why do rich old pensioners with gold plated final salary schemes and huge savings and wealth in property need it?
Because it’s cheaper to give them to everyone in the age group than to means test them
Means testing means that many pensioners with low earnings simply won’t apply for a pass.
Plus what you save on the pass will be eaten up by the buracracy to administer the means test.
If they’ve paid their taxes in this country, why aren’t older people entitled to have a bus pass?
it would be fairer to have rules which state those who haven’t paid into the UK tax system can’t take out of it. (individuals with mental or physical disabilities, excepted).
Most countries don’t allow the abuse of their systems that we do, from those who’ve never paid in.
A common misconception is that it is a zero-sum figure. Also, you generally aren’t paying for yourself with taxes; you’re paying for the generation before you. Also, as you mentioned, you would create a dangerous precedent about deciding who deserves it and who doesn’t.
Taking your example, long-term depression is a disability by definition, so they would be excluded in your example, although it is quite common for those with long-term depression to lead normal lives, so you create inequality and stigma even within that one example. Now take that for everything, and you end up with chaos where no one benefits.
Do you mean stop the scheme for pensioners?
Where is it sugegsted that the pensioners concessionary fares will be ended?
Because they aren’t.
Taxies for disabled people are a separate issue.
Means test it for the old. Disabled people have to go through hoops to get this much needed benefit. Rich pensioners don’t need it.
I don’t image rich pensioners would ever use it either, so they are not exactly taxing the system if they never use it.
So I cannot have my bus pass after 50 years of working but others can have their taxis to hospital appointments etc that cost £££££ but have not contributed anything.
If you’ve worked for 50 years you’re more than likely to be about 70 so qualify for a free pass.
Why haven’t you applied for one?
You can claim for travel to primary care appointments by using an HC5(T) if you qualify, which is usually the case if you get free prescriptions. Your pharmacy can help with this. Has nothing to do with your contribution; the NHS is a completely different element.
Perhaps reduce costs by making the Brighton and Hove concessionary fares not start until 9:30 like the rest of Sussex?
And before you ask, I’m a concessionary bus pass holder.
No need.
The national concessionary scheme is a statutory duty funded through local government finance settlements from central government.
Brighton & Hove City Council then reimburses operators such as Brighton & Hove Buses
directly for journeys made by pass holders.
Any extra local enhancements (such as wider disabled-person eligibility or extra travel times) are funded locally by the council, including parking revenue.
The closest official national breakdown available is:
About 87% of concessionary travel spending in England is on the mandatory statutory scheme.
About 13% is on discretionary local additions funded by councils.
But that is England-wide, not Brighton-specific.
The vast majority of the funding for the concessioary fares scheme comes from the parking surplus.
As per the annual parkign report available on the councils website.
The problem is disabled passes are given out like sweets on halloween, I get not all disabilities are visible. But not all disabilities affect people in a way that they need free travel. unemployed people still pay and they don’t get the extra benefits of PIP etc…. I see people running for the bus like Lindford Christie and then pulling out a disabled pass. I don’t get why so many people qualify. You can’t say mental health or anxiety they need the pass when they’re not having any issues using the bus anyway or running for the bus. How does having a pass change anything for them other than free travel. It seems to me it’s an unneeded extra benefit for a lot of people.
I have multiple and severe disabilities myself.
I am still unable to get a disability bus pass, plus I have paid over £5000 (five thousand pounds) on taxi’s, to get to medical care and health care, because of my health and disabilities.
The majority of concessionary bus pass money comes from Central Government, so someone should submit a Freedom of Information request to B&HCC to check how much that is and request the publication of yearly percentages of how much money B&HCC gets nationally and how much they take from local parking revenue to top it up.
The national concessionary scheme is a statutory duty funded through local government finance settlements from central government.
Brighton & Hove City Council then reimburses operators such as Brighton & Hove Buses
directly for journeys made by pass holders.
Any extra local enhancements (such as wider disabled-person eligibility or extra travel times) are funded locally by the council, including parking revenue.
The closest official national breakdown available is:
About 87% of concessionary travel spending in England is on the mandatory statutory scheme.
About 13% is on discretionary local additions funded by councils.
Go on then.