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Concessionary Travel Voucher Scheme Survey
2009 Survey Evaluation

Background

Dover District Council has offered the Concessionary Travel Voucher Scheme since 1^st October 2004, when the previous Concessionary Travel Token Scheme closed. The aim of the scheme is to provide help with transport costs for residents who are unable to take advantage of the National Bus Pass Scheme.

It is a local scheme, only available within the Dover District and fully funded by Dover District Council. 30 £1 vouchers are issued annually, free of charge, to each eligible resident who claims the concession, which can be used for part or full payment of a taxi fare.

The concession is offered as an alternative to the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme, which is funded by a grant from Central Government. Everyone aged 60 or over, as well as those under 60 with certain disabilities, can claim a bus pass, which provides free, off peak, bus travel throughout England. No provision is made by this scheme for residents who are unable to use public transport.

The current eligible groups for the Travel Voucher Scheme are:

• Residents aged 85 or over
• Residents who have been awarded the high rate of either Disability Living Allowance (mobility or care element) or Attendance Allowance or  the War Pensioners Mobility Supplement in addition to Housing or Council Tax benefit.
• Residents who have had a Learning Disability since childhood as defined by the Transport Act 2005

Before opening the Scheme, various methods of determining the eligibility criteria were examined and consulted on. The decision was taken to include the age category to reflect the number of residents in that age group who used to claimed travel tokens instead of a bus pass.

Residents who claim a high rate disability benefit in addition to Housing or Council Tax benefit were included to enable the scheme to help people most in need, not only physically but also financially.

The learning disability category was added to assist residents who are unable to use public transport due to their disability. Residents claiming under this category are mainly those who reside in care homes.

The Scheme was last evaluated in 2006. Suggestions made by the Voluntary and Community Sector groups as a result of that survey were:

• To reduce the automatic qualifying age to 75.
• To include recipients of the lower rate of Attendance Allowance.
• To remove recipients of the high rate care element of Disability Living Allowance.
• To include residents who have a Council Tax banding reduction.
• To remove the link to Housing and Council Tax benefit.

In the 2006 Best Value Performance Indicator survey, residents were asked if it was preferable to increase the number of customers who could claim vouchers or to increase the number of vouchers each customer received. The majority replied that it was preferable to increase the number of eligible customers.

When asked which new customers should qualify the majority replied those aged 75 – 84.

The survey also found that £30 worth of vouchers per year was considered inadequate.

Budgetary restraints prevented the scheme being extended at that time to the 75 - 84 age group, as a further 3753 people would have become eligible to claim. This also prevented the amount of vouchers per customer being increased.

Aims of the survey

In November 2009, 429 existing travel voucher customers were asked to complete a survey form to evaluate the scheme and to inform a review to ensure that the scheme is achieving it’s aim of providing an alternative travel concession for people who are unable to take advantage of the Concessionary Bus Pass Scheme.

236 customers claim vouchers in the aged 85 or over category, 154 in the disability category and 39 in the learning disability category.

180 (42%) customers replied to the survey.

Voluntary and Community Sector groups have also been invited to reply to a survey about the effectiveness of the Scheme. This survey will close on 31^st March 2010 to comply with the Compact agreement.

Results

Customers were asked how quickly they use their vouchers. The results showed that most customers spread their use out over the year, but 18.9% stated that they use their vouchers within the first month of issue.

10 people stated that they do not use all of their vouchers within the year and that they keep them for emergency doctor or hospital appointments, if the car breaks down, for special occasions or they are not really needed and are claimed ‘just in case’.

When asked for what purpose the vouchers are used, the majority replied for doctor appointments, hospital appointments or shopping.

The survey asked if the vouchers are easy to use. Only 3 said that they were not. 1 reply suggested that the vouchers are too big; another stated that they wanted the taxi drivers to give cash as change and the third that they wanted to use them outside of Dover District.

The voucher booklets are smaller than a cheque book and can be folded in two. The size was designed to take into account people with sight problems as well as being big enough to be printed with instructions for users and for arrangements for reimbursement for the operators.

Customers are advised in the Terms and Conditions booklet that drivers will not issue change for the vouchers. This is to prevent taxi drivers being out of pocket at the end of their shift.

Arrangements are in place with taxi operators in Thanet, Folkestone and Canterbury to accept the vouchers, further afield it would be at the discretion of the driver but any registered taxi operator can accept, and be reimbursed for, travel vouchers. A 2% handling fee is payable to the taxi operator when vouchers are sent for reimbursement.

12 customers stated that they have had problems when using the vouchers with the main problem being that some taxi operators and hackney carriage drivers do not accept the vouchers.

It is the taxi operator’s choice whether or not to accept the vouchers and customers are advised to always ask the driver before starting their journey if vouchers will be accepted. The terms and conditions leaflet issued with every book of vouchers also includes a list of taxi operators that have agreed to accept the vouchers.

The survey asked if the application form is easy to complete. Only 5 people had difficulty in completing the form and most cited age as the reason they need extra help.

Over 90% of people think that the Terms and Conditions leaflet is easy to understand and answers their questions.

The Scheme is operated within a set budget, which restricts the number of customers who can claim vouchers and the number of vouchers each customer receives. The figure of £30 is based on the previous travel token allocation of £36 with a payment of £6. To simplify the issuing process the payment was removed and the amount of concession decreased accordingly.

Customers were asked if they thought the scheme should be changed to increase the number of customers but to issue less vouchers to each customer or to increase the number of vouchers issued but decrease the number of customers.

63.3% favoured more vouchers, 15.6% favoured more customers and 21.1% did not answer the question.

When asked which categories of people should not be eligible to claim the majority stated those under the Learning Disability category.

Suggestions for people who should be able to claim include:

• People who genuinely need to use a taxi and have a low income
• Parents of physically or mentally disabled children
• Anyone with a disability
• All pensioners
• Single parents
• People who have difficulty getting off buses
• Mothers with children
• Anyone with financial difficulty
• Blind or partially sighted people
• Everyone on high rate DLA
• People who live miles from anywhere in the countryside
• According to needs and funds
• People who have to use a taxi to go to the doctors
• People who have to attend out of town hospitals
• People who have no family help, or are cut off from services
• Carers

56.70% of people do not think that any other groups should be entitled to claim.

People were asked if they are happy with the service they receive from us. 91.1% are happy and 3.9% did not answer. Of the 5% of people who are not happy with the service the two reasons stated were that 30 vouchers are not enough and that the vouchers should be posted to them.

Each year the vouchers are made available for collection from the area offices in Whitfield, Dover, Deal, Sandwich and Aylesham and only posted if the customer provides an addressed envelope with enough stamps to cover recorded delivery.

Lost vouchers are not replaced, only stolen ones, if vouchers were to be posted and lost in the post they would not be replaced.

Anyone can collect vouchers on behalf of the customer, they are just asked to sign to confirm collection.

The first issue of vouchers a customer receives is sent by recorded delivery to avoid the possibility of a customer travelling to an office to collect their vouchers before they have arrived at that office for collection.

Recorded delivery costs £1.15 per pack of vouchers. If all vouchers were to be posted it would cost an additional £493.35 in postage fees.

The survey asked if customers have changed their concession from a bus pass to travel vouchers and if so, why? 25% of customers have changed for the following reasons:

• Comfort and convenience of taxis
• Disability or mobility problems
• Infrequent or no bus service

17.2% of respondents would claim and use a bus pass if the voucher scheme were not available. Of the 80.6% who would not, the reasons were mainly the inability to walk to and from a bus stop or being able to get on or off the bus.

The survey asked for other comments and suggestions about the scheme. The following is a summary.

• This is a very good scheme and a big help when you only have an old age pension.
• I am quite happy as things are.
• No bus route in area. Unable to get off a bus. Vouchers greatly valued.
• My grateful thanks for the scheme in whatever form it takes.
• I think I am extremely fortunate to qualify for this concession.
• Please continue with the present procedure.
• An excellent scheme.
• No complaint except that they are used up too quickly.
• I find vouchers very helpful and am quite happy to use them.
• Not everyone can use a bus pass and the vouchers, although not many, do help.
• Vouchers work very well and I know they are there for use in emergencies.
• This is a great scheme as I am 90 and can't walk from the bus with shopping. I hope you will carry on with this scheme. Many thanks.
• I really appreciate the help. Thanks for the large print form. A bus service that runs to the Doctors surgery in Canada Road, Deal would be helpful then people could use the bus.
• I am very grateful for the vouchers. They are most handy.
• Because I am in a wheelchair it makes it difficult to get anywhere. I really appreciate this concession.
• I think this is an excellent idea but of course £30 doesn't go very far and I therefore use mine for emergencies only. I feel this should be a stipulation.
• Would be good to use them on trains and National Express.
• I’m grateful for the scheme but they don’t go far enough.
• I appreciate the vouchers but they only pay for 2 trips, as it is £15 each way.
• They don't last all year.
• Should be £52.00 vouchers a year.
• Can only use a bus if it has a low step. A typical visit to town and back uses 5 vouchers so vouchers are quickly used up.
• Unable to walk to bus stops from my home. £30 is not enough as a round trip to Eastry Health Centre is £22.
• Vouchers not as good a value as bus passes.
• It would help to have more vouchers; bus pass people can use them every day. I’m 88, partially sighted with Osteoarthritis
• I appreciate the vouchers but they are not enough. Bus pass users can use them every day. I would need a taxi to the bus stop to get on a bus.
• I cannot get to bus stops near my home. Comparing the cost of a bus pass to the value of the vouchers, more vouchers would be appreciated. The minimum cost of a journey by taxi is 3 vouchers, which means 6 vouchers to the town and back.
• I would not claim vouchers if I was capable of catching the bus, I would have a lot more freedom to get to other towns. My vouchers only cover my trips to Sandwich shopping or Doctors.
• I would like to use a bus pass if I was able to, so much cheaper than taxis fare, plus not able to use bus because of ill health.
• The nearest bus stop is 3 miles away
• I am 94 and almost blind, I don't use public transport
• Suffer from severe pain could not use buses
• I would use bus pass if I had bus I could access. Then I could go out more than twice a year. The bus is not accessible for wheel chair users.
• I am too frail to use the bus
• As I am 88 years old I could not stand around the street awaiting public transport

Conclusion

The scheme has seen a decrease in the number of claimants since the introduction of the National Bus Pass Scheme on 1^st April 2008. In the last five years the number of people claiming vouchers has decreased by 39%. Residents who currently claim vouchers do so because they are not able to travel on a bus or to walk to a bus stop and therefore cannot take advantage of the bus pass scheme.

The main use of the vouchers is to help with the cost of taxi travel to doctor and hospital appointments but also for shopping trips.

The results of the survey clearly indicate that £30 worth of vouchers is not a sufficient enough concession to make a difference, although gratefully received.

17.2% of respondents would transfer to the bus pass scheme if the voucher scheme were not available.

Appendix – Survey results

Contact

Tel: 01304 872122

Email: confares@dover.gov.uk

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