By David Scott in Edinburgh
7 October 2010
Scotland’s free bus travel scheme for older and disabled people is open to error and fraud because of inadequate planning, according to a public spending watchdog.
In a report published on October 7, Audit Scotland said the national concessionary travel scheme, which replaced 16 separate council-run programmes, was introduced in 2006 without full consideration of objectives and long-term costs.It also found a lack of robust systems to manage and monitor the scheme.
Audit Scotland’s findings follow an audit of the development and management of NCT which cost just over £199m in 2009/10.
The report pointed out that the national scheme was widely used, with 80% of over-60s holding a bus pass.
Auditor general Bob Black said: ‘National concessionary travel is popular, with take-up by older people at a very high level. But there were weaknesses in how the system was planned and implemented.
‘Systems to effectively administer NCT were not in place and this left it more open to error and fraud.’
The report also said there had been a four-and-a-half year delay in rolling out necessary technology, increasing the cost to £42m – nearly five times the original budget of £9m.
The technology was designed to make the scheme more efficient, less susceptible to fraud and easier to administer. It included the introduction of electronic ticket machines and was intended to be ready for the start of the scheme in April 2006.
However, it is now not expected to be fully operational until December this year.
According to the report, the £199m overall cost of operating the NCT will continue to increase. Based on current levels of concessionary journeys and a range of fare increases, Audit Scotland estimates that uncapped costs could reach between £216m and £537m a year by 2025.
