Wednesday 1 September 2010

We're All Going On A Summer Holiday

A spat has occurred between Political Scrapbook:
"Free bus passes at 60? Don’t count on it."
and Dizzy Thinks over whether the Tories would cut free bus passes. The facts are that Labour planned to raise it to 65 anyway as announced by the budget in March:
"From next month the entitlement age for concessionary travel will rise from 60, eventually reaching 65 by the end of the decade in line with the increasing state pension age for women."
The reason? Go on have a guess (my emphasis):

Under the new rules, both men and women will be given their bus pass when they reach the retirement age for a woman. But this is being pushed back from 60 in response to European Court equality rulings.

The change is being introduced on a sliding scale and by April 2020 all women will have the same retirement age as men, 65.

For bus passes, it means that anyone reaching 60 this month will have to wait only another month. But those whose 60th birthdays fall in 2015 must wait until April 2020.

I despair, I really do.

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