Leading Liberal Democrats in West Devon and Torridge have called on the Government to ensure council tax payers do not pay the burden for the concessionary bus pass 'black hole'. The Devon concessionary bus pass, which provides reduced or free transport to pensioners and the disabled, has cost West Devon £338,871 this year and Torridge £487,000. Now the scheme has been rolled out nationally, each council has been given more funding, but has no idea whether this money will be sufficient. On April 25, the Devon Partnership, which includes the two councils, received notification from the Government that they may change the amount councils should pay bus operators, and therefore they may have to pay more, not just for this year, but for the coming year. Cllr Alison Clish-Green, Liberal Democrat group leader at West Devon said: 'It's ridiculous that council tax payers in West Devon may have to fork out more money because holiday makers with concessionary bus passes use buses local to West Devon. 'We want the Government to guarantee that local council tax payers don't lose out.' Cllr Hugo Barton, the party's group leader at Torridge said: 'It is so difficult to budget for this expenditure, given that we don't know what it costs until the year has finished. We did not have enough money last year, and I doubt we will have enough this year.' Adam Symons, the Liberal Democrat prospective candidate for West Devon and Torridge said: 'The common sense approach for Government would be to ensure that local authorities don't face a budgetary "black hole". 'Nobody can tell what the impact of a national scheme will be on local budgets, so local people may end up paying for people from other parts of the country. I don't think this is fair.'
