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Matthew Offord

Member of Parliament for Hendon Constituency
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Transport for under-18s - August 2020

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The Government has recently had to step in and provide Transport for London with £1.095 billion of new grant funding and a further loan facility of £505 million, in order to keep vital public transport services running in London, and to increase the number of services to facilitate social distancing.

This is as a result of not only the Covid-19 pandemic but also the pre-existing poor condition of TfL’s financial position as a result of decisions made over the last 4 years.

As part of this bailout, it was agreed by the Mayor of London that conditions will include the temporary suspension of free travel for under-18s all day. After the Mayor agreed to the bailout for Transport for London, he immediately blamed the government for free travel for under-18s being temporarily suspended. However, a letter from the Transport Secretary to the Mayor revealed that Sadiq Khan's Deputy Mayor of Transport was directly asked if she agreed with pausing the concession – which she did.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is working closely with TfL on how the temporary suspension of free travel for under-18s can be operationalised, while at the same time ensuring that those children who are eligible for free home to school travel still receive this. I understand that the DfT is also undertaking an Equality Impact Assessment to consider whether there are further categories of vulnerable children that should receive free transport.

This is a disappointing situation. However, these conditions are necessary to put TfL back on a sustainable footing while ensuring fairness for the wider British taxpayer.

To make sure these sorts of drastic actions can be avoided in future, a Government-led review into TfL's future financial position and structure will begin immediately.

National Issues

  • Universal Credit (£20 uplift) - September 2021
  • Electoral Commission - July 2021
  • Joint replacement surgery backlog - July 2021
  • Intellectual Property changes - June 2021
  • Ethiopia - June 2021
  • Legacy Benefits - June 2021
  • Caged gamebirds - May 2021
  • Violence in Israel and OPTs
  • Climate Change
  • Supporting Cinema - March 2021
  • Visas for touring creatives in the EU - January 2021
  • NHS Pay - November 2020
  • Fire Safety Bill - September 2020
  • Animal Welfare - September 2020
  • Pesticide Standards - September 2020
  • Support for Asylum Seekers - September 2020
  • Cladding and EWS1 form - August 2020
  • Transport for under-18s - August 2020
  • Sustainable Fishing - August 2020
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Human Rights in Bahrain - July 2020
  • Immigration detention - July 2020
  • Merging the FCO and DFID
  • NHS Pay Increase - June 2020
  • Food Standards - June 2020
  • UK-US Free Trade Agreement - June 2020
  • Race horse welfare - March 2020
  • Windrush 'Lessons Learned' report - February 2020
  • Ocean Conservation - February 2020
  • Dementia care - January 2020
  • Horse tethering - January 2020
  • Abortion in Northern Ireland - (Updated) July 2019
  • Fit for Work Notes - April 2019
  • NHS - (Updated) March 2019
  • Immigration Bill - March 2019
  • Religious Persecution of Christians - February 2019
  • Brexit
  • Archive (2016-2018)

Matthew Offord Member of Parliament for Hendon Constituency

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ConservativesPromoted by Hilary Smith on behalf of Matthew Offord, both at 120 Bunns Lane, Mill Hill, London, NW7 2AS.

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