Local AM reassures pensioners

Gwenda Thomas AM has been contacted by worried pensioners after a rumour has been gathering pace around her constituency that the concessionary bus passes will shortly be scrapped as a consequence of the UK government budget cutbacks.

Mrs. Thomas advised the concerned pensioners that the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government has had made it consistently clear that it has no plans whatsoever to scrap the highly successful and popular concessionary travel scheme.

Neither are there any plans to change the entitlement or eligibility criteria for the half a million people in Wales who currently benefit from the scheme.

‘I would like to reassure local people who benefit from the free bus pass scheme that there will be no change to the scheme – all that has happened is that the Welsh Assembly Government has simply run an audit of the reimbursement mechanism between the Assembly Government, local authorities and bus operators.’

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