Public Service Vehicles (Travel Concessions) Act 1955

1 Granting by local authorities of travel concessions.

(1) Notwithstanding anything in any other enactment or in any rule of law to the contrary, it shall be lawful for any local authority who are operating a public service vehicle undertaking to make arrangements for the granting of established travel concessions to qualified persons travelling on the public service vehicles run by the local authority or on any of those vehicles to which the arrangements relate.

(2) In this Act the expression " qualified persons " means persons mentioned in any of the following paragraphs or any description of such persons, that is to say—

(a) men over the age of sixty-five years and women over the age of sixty years;

(b) persons whose age does not exceed fifteen years;

(c) persons whose age exceeds fifteen years but does not exceed eighteen years and who are undergoing full-time education;

(d) blind persons, that is to say persons so blind as to be unable to perform any work for which eyesight is essential;

(e) persons suffering from any disability or injury which, in the opinion of the local authority, seriously impairs their ability to walk;

(f) members of the local authority or of a constituent authority of the local authority (including persons who for the purposes of Part VI of the Local Government Act, 1948, are to be treated as members of the local authority or constituent authority):

Provided that travel concessions granted to a person by virtue of paragraph (c) of this subsection shall be limited to travel between the residence of such person and his place of education or for purposes in connection with the education received by him thereat, and travel concessions granted to a person by virtue of paragraph (f) of this subsection shall be limited to travel in the performance of approved duties as defined in section one hundred and fifteen of the Local Government Act, 1948.

(3) In this section the expression " established travel concession ", in relation to the grant of travel concessions by any local authority to persons of any description, means—

(a) a travel concession which was being granted by that authority to persons of that description at any date in the year nineteen hundred and fifty-four not later than the thirtieth day of November, or

(b) any less travel concession.

A certificate of the licensing authority for public service vehicles, granted on an application made by a local authority in accordance with the Schedule to this Act, that any travel concession specified in the certificate was at any such date as aforesaid being granted by the local authority to persons of a description so specified shall be conclusive evidence of the facts certified.

(4) The council of a county borough or county district in whose area another local authority run public service vehicles may contribute to any cost incurred by that other local authority in the granting to qualified persons of travel concessions in that area.

(5) In respect of travel concessions granted by them to qualified persons the council of a county borough or county district may, if they think fit, from time to time transfer to the credit of the account of their transport undertaking sums from the general rate fund, being sums not exceeding the cost to them of granting the concessions or so much of that cost as would not fall to be met out of the general rate fund apart from this subsection.

(6) In respect of travel concessions granted to qualified persons by a joint board or joint committee, the council of a county borough or county district, being a constituent authority of the board or committee, may if they think fit pay to the credit of the account of the transport undertaking of the board or committee sums out of the general rate fund not exceeding the appropriate proportion of the cost incurred by the board or committee in granting the concessions or so much of that cost as would not fall to be defrayed out of the general rate funds of the constituent authorities apart from this subsection.

In this subsection the expression " appropriate proportion " means, in relation to a constituent authority, the proportion in which that authority contributes to the expenses of the joint board or joint committee.

(7) Sections one and two of the Transport Charges &c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1954, shall not apply to fares chargeable to qualified persons by virtue of travel concessions granted by local authorities, and no conditions attached to a road service licence shall prejudice the operation of arrangements for granting such concessions to such persons.

(8) Any expenditure of a local authority incurred before the passing of this Act which would have been lawful if this Act had then been in force shall be deemed to have been lawfully incurred.