Tory AMs have proposed axing free passes to staff nominees. Image: TfL
According to the Conservative Assembly group, providing free travel to nominees of Transport for London staff costs £35.8m in lost fare revenue, money they say could fund a cut in City Hall’s share of the council tax.
The proposal is contained in an amendment to Mayor’s Boris Johnson’s 2014/14 budget which will be debated at City Hall on Friday.
There are currently 21,788 staff nominee passes in use according to official City Hall figures.
The Mayor’s budget includes a cut in the precept equal to 7p per week and the Mayor has committed himself to a 10% cut over the course of his second term, however Tory AMs want to see the precept reduced at a faster rate.
A spokesperson for the group said: “Our amendment reduces the Band D precept amount by 3.5%, to £295.95. This is the first time since 2006 that the precept has come below £300, making good progress towards the Mayor’s 10% reduction over his term.
“We consider it reasonable to budget for only half the value of the nominee passes as not all the current pass holders will pay for travel instead, representing an increased income from fares of £17.8 million for TfL. This money should be used to fund a precept cut.”
Mayor Johnson has previously defended the nominee pass scheme and in November claimed “the cost of providing free travel to nominees of TfL staff is nil as the amount of travel is insufficient to require additional services to be operated to cope with it.”
The amendment also includes a proposal to cut the Assembly’s budget by £300,000, money that would be spent on initiatives to help homeless veterans.
The Assembly will question the Mayor on his budget from 10am on Friday 8th February. The meeting takes place at City Hall and is open to the public. A webcast will also be available.
I’m not 100% sure but I’m reasonably certain that both staff travel and the nominee passes are included in our salary packages so if the Tories want to withdraw them then LUL will have to negotiate with the Union at the next pay talks. How kind of the Tory AMs to provide their valuation, according to their figures we will be expecting £1643.11 each to compensate for the loss of nominee passes, something I’m sure a lot of staff will be quite happy to accept.
quite right families and the free police travel police can afford to pay their own tickets
I expect this will be another excuse for the unions to go on strike! They dont need much to threaten it!
Also, why should the savings be spent on reducing council tax? Would it not be better to spend it either on upgrade works or on reducing ticket prices for all users?
Get your facts right, MH.
ASLEF have had a strike on Boxing Day for three years in a row but other than that we haven’t been on strike for over ten years while RMT were last on strike in January 2011 over two train drivers who were unfairly sacked and later reinstated and TSSA went on strike for the first time since 1926 with RMT in December 2010 over ticket office closures. RMT have held a some strike ballots but nothing ever came of it, some times holding a ballot is the only way to get LUL’s management to discuss anything.
Boris and the Tories reduce the council tax, never cut fares and the upgrade works need billions not millions. As it is £35m wouldn’t go very far reducing ticket prices or council tax bills for that matter.
As far as I am concerned my Wife enoys a Nominee Pass which is part and parcel of my TfL remuneration and my T&C’s. She rarely uses the Nominee pass as we live 70 miles outside London, so if the Nominee Pass is withdrawn, I’ll happily accept monetary compensation instead. I reckon £3K will suffice. I have worked for TfL for 21 years and have never been on strike; haven’t had a days sickness for the last 3 or 4 years and regularly work many hours unpaid overtime. I have never claimed anything for out of pocket expenses and have won a number of Awards for outstanding performance. I consider it a priviledge to work for TfL and am proud to do so, but don’t misunderstand my determination (and many of my TfL Colleagues) to make a stand if Boris wants to change my T&C’s without my consent or awarding me with suitable compensation. We still have the numerous wonderful endorsements from Lord Coe, The Rt Honourable David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Sir Peter Hendy et al praising TfL’s world beating performance during the Olympic and Paralympic Games so before this scurrilous Nominee Pass farce goes much further, lets just remember the dedication and superhuman efforts which each and every TfL Employee puts in each and every day for the good and benefit of ALL Londoners.
If she hardly uses it, it is hardly a benefit worth £3,000 to you?
Either it is important, or not.
Yes TfL staff did a greeat job during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, although it is worth noting that many recevied extra payment during the Games as well. This is in addition to wage increases in recent years that few other workers in the public or private sector have enjoyed.
The provision of nominee free travel is a non contractural perk for TfL staff. I think most members of the public would be surprised that it even exists. At a time when most members of the public are being hit by rising fares I think TfL staff should reflect on whether such a perk can really be justified.
I have a Staff Nominee Pass which I use maybe 2 to 4 times a month.
When I do use the pass I actually generate many, many times more money for London then the cost of the free travel I got that day. The last time I actively planned a day to use the pass was for St Patrick’s Day when I organised a Free to attend event in London to see the St Patrick’s Day Parade and go on a treasure hunt around London.
That event I organised brought in approx 40 people into London – more than half of them were visitors from abroad. So my free trip into London using my pass generated 40 other fares into London for London transport.
We also visited 3 pubs that day and I’d estimate on average people attending spent around £25 each if you take the amount of money they spent on food, drink and travel costs. So I generated 40 x £25 for London that day = £1,000 of which I didn’t get a penny
I think that’s great value for money. London Transport gave me approx £8 worth of free travel into London and got back 40 other people’s fares in exchange
If I didn’t get free travel into London I’d have never organised the event in the first place.
A benefit like this reduces staff turnover, which means staff stay with London Transport longer and thus they don’t have to hire as many staff, as often, which means they pay less to recruitment agencies which I’m sure charge a lot more then the cost of the free fares. From what I hear recruitment agencies charge 10% to 30% of the staff’s first year wages.
Counting my free pass as a loss of £3,000+ to London transport is far from the truth because I barely use my card and if I had to pay for my fares I’d use that even less.