Subject; Concessionary Travel National Audit

THIS LETTER IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY - YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO TAKE ACTION

The Council is participating in an exercise to promote the proper spending of public money.

We are required by law to protect public funds we administer. We may share information provided to us with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds in order to prevent and detect fraud.

The Audit Commission currently requires us to participate in its anti-fraud initiative. For this initiative, we are required to provide details of holders of the English Concessionary Travel Pass to the Audit Office so that the details can be compared to information provided by other public bodies. This will ensure, for example, that no pensions / benefits are being paid to persons who are deceased or no longer entitled.

These exercises, therefore, help promote the best use of public funds.

(You do not need to respond to this letter, however, if you do not wish your data to be used in this way then you will need to return your Travel pass to us inorder that we can remove your details from the Telford and Wrekin Concessionary Fare Scheme data base. If that is the case in order to ensure that your data is removed we suggest that you return your pass, in person, to Telford Travelink in the Telford Town Centre Bus Station by Friday 19th September 2008).

You may be contacted again in the future if the exercise suggests that there is a question about your eligibility to receive concessionary travel. Further Information is available on our web site at www.telford.gov.uk and follow the links to Transport Streets & Parking / Public Transport / Concessionary Travel. Information is also available on the Audit Commission website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk

However if you have any questions, you should contact the Concessionary Travel Team at the above address or call on 01952 200005, who can also provide hard copies of information available on our website.

Yours Sincerely

Concessionary Travel Team

When you read this letter, just how many people trust the government with data.

Then they talk about protecting public funds they administer, not very reassuring after the council spent around £37k on bottled Water, several million £'s on a local quango, £750k on making the EP A442 less safe, around £300k on Ketley Brook, then local business realing from the effects of the Eade bay Auctions.

These issues alone hardly fill you with confidence.

The letter sounds that those entitled to Concessionary Bus Rates are being held to randsom.

Again, another example of the poorest and most vulnerable in our communities being treated like second class citizens.

Cobbler has a bus pass but he hasn't used it yet.He is not going to send his pass back for some official malarky because he knows the state has already stored all the information it needs. Besides,so many people are living here unofficially there can be no validity to any records. As it is he can no longer afford to be a pensioner so is getting on his bike and going back to work.

Council apology for pass mix-up
Council bosses in Telford & Wrekin have apologised for a senior citizens’ bus pass mix-up.

Telford & Wrekin Council wrote to pass holders, telling them to hand back their free passes if they did not want their personal details passed on to a Government body.

But Steve Wellings, council chief executive, said the council would be writing to all concessionary travel pass holders again to apologise for any confusion caused by the wording of the letter.

“They are entitled to their bus pass regardless of whether we share their details or not,” he said.

Read the full story in today’s Shropshire Star

And how much tax payers money did they spend sending out the letters?.

Council clarifies letter on bus pass
By Janine Griffiths

Telford & Wrekin Council bosses have said sorry for a letter sent out to senior citizens in Telford telling them to hand back their free bus passes if they did not want their personal details to be passed on.


Chief Executive Steve Wellings said they were writing again to all concessionary travel pass holders to apologise for any confusion caused by the wording of an earlier letter.

The letter was informing residents about the council having to take part in a national information sharing process, run by the national Audit Commission, which includes concessionary travel.

Mr Wellings said: “Some people have unfortunately concluded from our earlier letter that if they do not want us to share the information about their applications with the Audit Commission, then they would lose entitlement to their bus pass.

“I want to stress that this is not the case - they are entitled to their bus pass regardless of whether we share their details or not.

“If people do not want us to share their details with the Audit Commission, then they need to let us know formally. We will have to see their bus pass so that we can change our records.”

Concessionary travel pass holders can either go in person to the Travelink office at Telford bus station, with their pass to do this, or they can send in their pass with a letter and it will be returned as soon as the details have been changed.

Mr Wellings added: “We are really sorry if this has worried anyone because the previous letter was not clear enough.”

“I would like to emphasise that the council has to do this and we have been assured by the Audit Commission that their information systems are safe and secure.”

Telford MP David Wright said: “I’m very pleased that the council has clarified the situation.

“The previous letter sent out by the council worried a lot of people.

“All senior citizens are entitled to concessionary bus travel in England.”

We have some experts at communication in the council.tnteresting to know the cost of another round of letters.Who was responsible for the guff?

5th September 2008

Clarification of letter sent to you about the Concessionary Travel National Audit

You have recently had a letter from my colleague regarding the Concessionary National Audit which has confused some people because the wording in it was not clear.

The purpose of the previous letter was to inform you that the national Audit Commission have recently told the Council that they require you to pass on to them details regarding all bus applications. This information will be shared only with the Audit Commission and NOT with any other organisation. The data will be transferred electronically – directly to the Audit Commission’s secure, password protected website – eliminating the need for data to be sent through the post.

Unfortunately, the advice to those who did not want their data passed on was misleading in our last letter.

If you do not wish to have your data passed on to the Audit Commission, you have the right to tell us so. In this case please complete, sign and date the form overleaf and return it to us by 26th September 2008, either in person at the Travelink Office in Telford bus station or by post to the address given in the form.

I apologise for the misleading way this was set out in the previous letter and for any concern this may have caused.

If you are still unsure about anything in this letter or the previous one, you should contact the council’s concessionary Travel Team on 01952 200005.