Bus pass and prescriptions?

I also can't walk to the bus stop either ha ha (but do have a scooter) - or even get on a bus due to steps, so I might be campaigning for better access on buses, like they have in France - either the entry at kerb level or a lowering ramp where you press a button.

Our local buses have had lowering ramps and no steps for many years. Perhaps this doesn’t apply everywhere?

Excellent post, Doodledog, my husband has just said, what you have posted.

Someone said you can use the bus pass in other regions as well - is that right? If so that's great - we could go to the coast :-) I thought it was just in the same council area.

If you’re in England the national pass that people are eligible for at state pension age is valid for all service bus (not coach) travel throughout England from 0930h until 2300h, and at any time over the weekend.

I believe the passes for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are even more generous, eg start at 60 and might cover train travel as well?

If pensioners are denied the bus pass (and there is no saying this is even under discussion) what will be gained? They are unlikely to start paying in high numbers, so the buses will either run with fewer passengers or the routes will be cancelled.

Quite apart from the fact that removing the 'silly little things' would be bad for practical reasons, it is not in the interests of any government to make it better for people to be on PC than have an occupational pension. For one thing, PC has to be paid out of the benefits budget, and for another people would just stop paying into the occupational one if they knew that means-testing would take what they had paid for pound for pound. Taking the bus pass and prescriptions from those with occupational pensions to give more to those on PC would be a disastrous move on a number of levels.

By the way how do they know if you've used it or not?

Ours are now digitized, the journey is stored on the card. Not having been on the Subway, since the pandemic, I stood waiting for my ticket. The stationmaster asked when I had last been on the Subway, because you no longer needed a ticket!

We certainly count pennies here, with two state pensions and a small income on top (OH is still working part time or we couldn't afford the fuel bills at all!)

Someone said you can use the bus pass in other regions as well - is that right? If so that's great - we could go to the coast :-) I thought it was just in the same council area.

I also can't walk to the bus stop either ha ha (but do have a scooter) - or even get on a bus due to steps, so I might be campaigning for better access on buses, like they have in France - either the entry at kerb level or a lowering ramp where you press a button.

I do think the Government have no idea how unaffordable it is to run a home and eat if you only have the full basic state pension. Which means you're not eligible for pension credit (the cut off mark is just below full state pension I think). They assume all pensioners have private pensions. I did have one but it was only worth £11 a year (yes that's a year). Because I fell foul of a rule that said you can't pay into a private pension if you're not working or earning. This was after a divorce and although I did have an income, I was also not fit to work and I wasn't allowed to pay into a private pension - as such my pension contributions stopped with only a few hundred pounds in the pension. I think they changed that rule again later but it was too late for me then. The final straw was the WASPI situation! Having started work at 17 ...... Anyway. I really hope the bus pass thing is just a rumour.

By the way how do they know if you've used it or not?

Lomo123

100 % agree with you Marydoll. The bus pass is literally a lifeline for people where I am. It's 2 buses each way to the nearest hospital, 1 bus to doctors surgery. There is no way a lot of people could afford taxis to either places.

It is two buses to our nearest small hospital. Appointments at the University Trust hospitals, often involve three buses.

I am off to make the dinner, a good idea, for my BP is rising!

100 % agree with you Marydoll. The bus pass is literally a lifeline for people where I am. It's 2 buses each way to the nearest hospital, 1 bus to doctors surgery. There is no way a lot of people could afford taxis to either places.

Monica, that only covers one trip.

We have parishioners, who get the bus to Mass every day, not only is it for their spiritual wellbeing, it is a social event. Otherwise, they would never speak to a living soul all week.

With all due respect, you have absolutely no idea of how some people have to struggle on a daily basis.

I have never suggested bus passes should go without an increase in income. If the PC level was raised by £15, that would more than cover the return bus fare Marydoll mentions

What I am finding most frustrating about these discussion is I am the only one addressing the issue and suggesting alternative ways of helping those on lower incomes and everyone is just saying 'no'. No one is entering a discussion where the problem can be discussed and alternative solutions can be suggested and considered.

I am very aware how others struggle, but given that the government has given us a fait accompli. Surely any ideas that might mitigate the problem at the margins is useful and could lead to some really good ideas coming through.

Someone in power might just read them and realise that there are more ways thaan one of dealing with this problem.

Here a single journey to the nearest town six miles away is £6, a taxi £40. Therefore an elderly person wanting to go and do some shopping would spend £12 on bus fares..
For me to go to my doctors in the same town, I need two buses each way, unless I drive.
That is a lot out of someone's pension.

Free bus passes allow people to go out and about, without counting the pennies.
You only have to look at the number of pensioners on the buses to the coast from here, to realise the benefits to their mental wellbeing of free travel.
They couldn't afford it otherwise.

I know of people, who go out by bus and sit in a cafe with a coffee, rather than heat their homes.
They are warm, keeping mobile and socialising. Win, win, win.

Some posters have no conception of how others struggle.

Our bus passes allow us to travel free anywhere in Scotland and we get concession rail fares within a certain radius. I also have a disabled person's rail card for when I want to travel further.
For that I am very grateful.

So the bus pass means that I can get out and about more often that I could otherwise do, food for me and my mental health, and food for the places I visit and I'm able to stay a little longer
I know it's not everyone's thing but sometimes I find.myself at a bus stop or sitting next to someone really interesting and we have a lovely chat.

Exactly this!

Believe Tony Blair brought in free bus passes when drivers were given £5000 to go and swap petrol cars for diesel. The intention was to get oldies off the road and diesel was considered more environmentally friendly than environmentally friendly than petrol.
Not just pensioners that have a pass....

I find M0nica's post offensive too, growstuff. Adding £3 to Pension Credit is a simplistic solution to a complex issue, and takes no account of differences in circumstances. There are people who (as you say) don't have enough spare income, and there are others who don't have the cognitive ability to budget. Should they be denied vital drugs because some find it offensive to be given 'silly little bits' in the form of exemptions?

Would there be a guarantee that the £3 would rise in line with increases in prescription charges? That could get complicated too.

Just as with the WFP there are those just outside of the cut-off for PC who would miss out on the £3 anyway; and as ever, mean-testing could easily drag people on a state pension (who would have to pay for prescriptions under M0nica's scheme) into being worse off than someone on PC. It shouldn't be a race to the bottom.

growstuff

M0nica

yellowfox I wish you would read my posts and possibly query with me if I am not clear.

I have always made it clear that those in tight financial situations should receive cash compensation through Pension Credit, so that they are not out of pocket.

How I can be harsh and selfish when I would lose out all the way down the line. I wouldn;t benfit from a PC increase and would have to meet the burden of paying for all these extras from my current income. On the contrary I am advocating something that will leave me and others with comfortable pensions like mine worse off, while making suggestions that ensure that those less well off do not suffer.

Frankly if someone gets to 67 without knowing how to budget and plan their spending, giving silly little bits of extra hypothecates sums, will be of no help at all. They will have dribbled away the WFA in all sorts of ways before any fuel bills come through and will be one of those cronically financially feckless people that exist at every age.

I really do find this post offensive. I am 69 and necessity has meant that I have had to budget carefully all my life. I am most emphatically not "chronically financially feckless". I have a tiny savings pot, which I really try not to touch, but every month almost every penny of my income is allocated and planned. There are some months when I literally have nothing left. The withdrawal of WFA has meant adjustments, as have the increased fuel prices from this winter.

It is not that I can't manage my money - the fact is that I barely have enough money to survive. I realise that there are some people who receive even less than I do and don't have (as I do) a backstop, who would help me out if I asked. I am not eligible for Pension Credit, so couldn't be compensated by this means.

I think that life is often tougher for those who live alone as their expenses are not much less than for a couple. I appreciate that council tax and food bills are lower, but housing costs, heating and maintenance or service charges for your home are the same.
A couple often get virtually double the benefits (if they have both worked and get a state pension), though I appreciate that the WFA was not double paid.
Many people do live alone as they get older and they are the people who need more heating and are vulnerable in other ways.

I got my pension a few years late and didn't get my pass until then. I have to pay bus fares every day first thing when I take my grandchildren to school, though I can use it for the return journey. If they take away bus passes I think I'd probably use my car, do they really want to push us back into using cars for school journeys?
My husband takes six different medications, it would cost us a fortune if they bring back prescription charges. Neither of us have used the NHS much until we were 70.
There have been some pretty bitter posts on Mumsnet recently, resentful of the benefits that people gain when they're retired. People forget that many of us have worked for most of our lives and contributed through taxes and NI. Indeed many of us are still contributing tax due on our savings and investments. If I add up what we receive now vs what we are paying in tax the government still comes out on top.

M0nica

yellowfox I wish you would read my posts and possibly query with me if I am not clear.

I have always made it clear that those in tight financial situations should receive cash compensation through Pension Credit, so that they are not out of pocket.

How I can be harsh and selfish when I would lose out all the way down the line. I wouldn;t benfit from a PC increase and would have to meet the burden of paying for all these extras from my current income. On the contrary I am advocating something that will leave me and others with comfortable pensions like mine worse off, while making suggestions that ensure that those less well off do not suffer.

Frankly if someone gets to 67 without knowing how to budget and plan their spending, giving silly little bits of extra hypothecates sums, will be of no help at all. They will have dribbled away the WFA in all sorts of ways before any fuel bills come through and will be one of those cronically financially feckless people that exist at every age.

I really do find this post offensive. I am 69 and necessity has meant that I have had to budget carefully all my life. I am most emphatically not "chronically financially feckless". I have a tiny savings pot, which I really try not to touch, but every month almost every penny of my income is allocated and planned. There are some months when I literally have nothing left. The withdrawal of WFA has meant adjustments, as have the increased fuel prices from this winter.

It is not that I can't manage my money - the fact is that I barely have enough money to survive. I realise that there are some people who receive even less than I do and don't have (as I do) a backstop, who would help me out if I asked. I am not eligible for Pension Credit, so couldn't be compensated by this means.

The attack on pensioners yet those age 60 to state retirement age get free prescriptions so those who go to work get them so pick on them .There will be a lot more pensioners filling the drs surgeries depressed as without the bus pass I like many others would not be going out most days it would be cheaper to give us a tablet my neighbour gets pension credit so as I lose £5000 by paying council tax etc who is the better off

I agree. I use my bus pass all the time as I don’t drive and would be lost without it. I also need 6 medications a day. I just hope this was posted on Twitter by Tory trolls who have nothing better to do.

JenJenT

Many of these trades unionists, particularly those in public services, will be in relatively good pensions schemes. Have they not realised that they themselves will fall foul of the moves to penalise pensioners with additional income? What a way to tell people not to save for their retirements, but to spend it all so they can get all the extra benefits.

Trades unionists don't award or withdraw money to or from pensioners.

I agree that means-testing is a disincentive to saving, but that is nothing to do with trades unionists either.

If you have a private pension that takes your combined income above the tax free limit you are taxed. My DB who is a retired fireman pays tax on his brigade pension.
Yes, of course he does. Everyone who has an income (from whatever source) that is above the personal tax allowance pays tax. Why wouldn't they?

yellowfox I wish you would read my posts and possibly query with me if I am not clear.

I have always made it clear that those in tight financial situations should receive cash compensation through Pension Credit, so that they are not out of pocket.

How I can be harsh and selfish when I would lose out all the way down the line. I wouldn;t benfit from a PC increase and would have to meet the burden of paying for all these extras from my current income. On the contrary I am advocating something that will leave me and others with comfortable pensions like mine worse off, while making suggestions that ensure that those less well off do not suffer.

Frankly if someone gets to 67 without knowing how to budget and plan their spending, giving silly little bits of extra hypothecates sums, will be of no help at all. They will have dribbled away the WFA in all sorts of ways before any fuel bills come through and will be one of those cronically financially feckless people that exist at every age.

There are no buses near, I need no prescriptions, we heat with a wood fire - however, I understand others have needs and income different to ours. I possess empathy for others and attempt no negative opinions.

I find myself agreeing with you, Yellowfox.

I would love to know what MOnica is refering to with those 'silly little handouts"
I have a private pension and pay tax, capable of budgeting myself, never claimed anything in my life. Living in Greater Manchester I contribute ten pounds a year towards tram fares.
I think MOnica should realise that peoples' circumstances are different and not everyone is able to budget the way she and I can.
YYou take a very harsh and selfish view MOnica!

I never heard of this either- it sounds like someone (or something) is keeping a record! I use mine pretty often, but even if you don't you may need it in future. Very strange.