Purpose

To seek the
Cabinet Member’s approval to pay Additional Capacity Costs in
2025-26.
 

Decision

That the Cabinet Member:

 

Approves to pay Stagecoach Yorkshire £0.073m in
Additional Capacity Costs in 2025-26 related to the English
National Concessionary Travel Scheme, known in Derbyshire as
‘Gold Card’. 

Reasons for the decision

The Council has a duty, under the Transport Act 2000 and the
Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007, to operate a bus concessionary
travel scheme for older people and those with certain disabilities
in the County as part of the larger English National Concessionary
Travel Scheme (ENCTS). Making this additional payment will allow
the scheme to operate in 2025-26 as normal.   

 

The ENCTS provides people over 66 and those with specific
disabilities with free off-peak local bus travel. Many of these
people depend on buses to access key services such as food shopping
and health facilities. As such, it is important that the ENCTS
continues to operate normally. 

Alternative options considered

Option 1: Do nothing and make no attempt to resolve the ACC
made by Stagecoach - As the formal appeal has been lodged with the
DfT, doing nothing is not an option as the DfT would have begun a
formal process to hear the claim for ACC after 22 November 2025.
The experience of other LTAs across the country is that the appeals
process can become very complex to resolve and expensive if
specialist representation is required. There is also a risk that
the DfT accepts Stagecoach Yorkshire’s full ACC claim of
£0.478m. This option is therefore not recommended.
 

Option 2: Pay the full £0.478m in ACC for 2025-26
claimed by Stagecoach Yorkshire - The work undertaken has shown
some of the services which Stagecoach claimed for ACC failed to
meet the three tests used in the review process. As a result, the
total amount of ACC payment can be reduced. This option is
therefore not recommended.   
 

Option 3: Following the review, pay a reduced ACC figure of
£0.073m to Stagecoach Yorkshire - While this is an additional
cost for the Council, this can be contained within the existing
local bus concessionary fares budget for 2025-26. Paying this
amount will also resolve any potential risks and costs associated
with the formal DfT appeals process. This option is therefore
recommended.