London Councils Transport and
Environment Committee:
Freedom Pass 2010 Reissue Update Item No: 6
Report by:
Ron Beckett
Job title: Head of Mobility
Eliyo Osikena
Date:
Project Manager (Freedom Pass)
18 March 2009
Contact Officer: Eliyo Osikena
Telephone:
020 7934 9818
Email:
[email protected]
Summary:
The report updates members on the progress of the 2010 Freedom Pass
reissue project and advises on the London Councils’ assessment of
those boroughs that wish to be involved in the application process.
Recommendations:
The Committee is asked to:
 Note the update, in particular the concerns over card availability
and the proposal to take these concerns up with Transport for
London and the Secretary of State for Transport.
 Consider the report on the assessment of those boroughs that
wish to process applications.
1. 2010 Reissue Update
The last update to Committee on the progress of the 2010 reissue was in October 2008. It is
therefore timely to inform members of the progress in all areas of this project.
Card processing: London Councils is involved in detailed negotiations with the primary
framework contractor appointed by the DfT for the provision of card processing services and
card management. While these negotiations are commercially sensitive it can be confirmed that
substantial progress has been made.
Card production: TfL will supply cards encoded with the Oyster application leaving the
contractor’s bureau to personalise, ITSO encode and dispatch. The supply of these cards
currently poses the biggest risk to the reissue. TfL are planning to change the type of smart card
used to support the Oyster application and intend to supply these for Freedom Pass. This has
meant that London Councils, working with ITSO and the Oyster contractor, has had to undertake
testing of the new card and their capability. The first testing has been completed but the card
London Councils Transport & Environment Committee
Freedom Pass 2010 Reissue Update
Agenda Item 6
18 March 2009
type has still not been formally agreed by TfL and will not be until 31 March 2009 at the earliest.
This card type is also not yet certified by ITSO.
Following production of the necessary chips, card production cannot then begin until
August/September and it is possible the majority of the million plus cards may not be delivered
until January 2010. This will have serious implications for card processing and distribution in
terms of meeting the 31 March 2010 deadline. Officers are already discussing how this might
affect the card processing timescales and any additional cost implications. Further to this there is
a concern that the cards TfL eventually supply are configured differently to those already tested
as any variations could lead to ITSO encoding failure.
This means there is a substantial risk that it may not be possible to produce a functioning card
with both Oyster and ITSO applications in sufficient numbers in time for the 2010 reissue. The
Oyster application is the one which works in London and is needed to provide data for
apportionment, but the ITSO application is required under Government legislation. Given this it
may be necessary to press the Government to change the secondary legislation.
Given the critical nature of the supply of viable cards and the substantial impact it can have on
the overall delivery, it is suggested that London Councils write to the Peter Hendy, the Transport
Commissioner at TfL and to the Secretary of State for Transport setting out these concerns.
Members will receive a further update on this in June.
Application process: Section 2 of this report relates to those boroughs that wish to process
applications rather than use the Post Office. However, the majority of boroughs wish to use the
Post Office and on that basis discussions have been opened with them on how the process will
work in 2010. While some aspects of this are commercially sensitive, members should note that
the counter service will be improved and that the process will be similar to that used by TfL and
the Post Office for the Young Person’s Pass.
Communications strategy: given the importance of ensuring that people apply in a timely
fashion and that they are aware that there will be a delay in receiving their new pass, a robust
and comprehensive communications strategy is required. It is intended that a detailed report on
this will be made to the June 2009 Committee.
2. Own Application Boroughs
The 2010 pass reissue process can be considered in 3 stages:
1. Application Process
2. Card Production
3. Getting Card to Client.
Stage 2 will be undertaken by a bureau who will produce the cards in accordance with the
technical requirements for the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) and the
Oyster smart ticketing system. As agreed following discussion at October TEC, London Councils
is negotiating with the Post Office to undertake much of stage 1, whilst for stage 3 it is proposed
that passes will be sent by post. However, TEC agreed boroughs could propose to undertake to
do some or all of the first and last stages and 6 boroughs indicated they wished to do so.
The table below summarises the position of these 6 boroughs:
London Councils Transport & Environment Committee
Freedom Pass 2010 Reissue Update
Agenda Item 6
18 March 2009
Borough
Name
Current
Borough
Involvement
in reissue *
DE
Proposal
by
borough
for 2010
DE
None
DE
Ealing
D
D
Sutton
DE
DE
Royal
Borough of
Kensington
& Chelsea
Newham
D
DE
D
D
Barking &
Dagenham
Camden
Detail
Process application within borough and
collection of passes at borough locations
Applications via post and delivery of passes
by post
This is still to be confirmed – consideration
being given to have application and delivery
of passes by post
Applications via borough location and
delivery of passes by post
Applications via post and collection of
passes at borough locations
This is still to be confirmed – Application via
borough location and delivery by post
* other than confirming disabled entitlement
D
E
= Disabled passes
= Elderly passes
In all other cases, it is proposed the Post Office will process the applications and passes will be
sent by post.
London Borough of Barking & Dagenham;
The London borough of Barking and Dagenham has about 19,330 elderly clients and 1,600
disabled clients. They are experienced in dealing with the reissue processes and have extensive
data sets for their elderly and disabled clients. The IT systems that they have in place are robust
and client data is up to date. It appears from our discussions that little needs to be done to their
IT systems to accommodate the technical changes needed to meet the requirements for the
2010 reissue. However, there is a concern regarding the proposal that applicants can collect
their pass from various designated locations throughout the borough. This may well add
additional delays and possible customer confusion to what is already a time constrained process
that is also very different to previous reissues. London Councils is currently satisfied that the
borough can process older and disabled applications, but recommends they reconsider
the distribution aspect of their proposal given the risk of delay in card delivery.
London Borough of Camden;
The London borough of Camden has about of 25,200 elderly and 5,600 disabled clients. They
have no recent reissue experience, but do have datasets for their disabled clients. The IT
systems they have in place seem robust and disabled client data is up to date. There are
however concerns about the radical change that Camden is proposing for the 2010 reissue. It is
clear that the borough proposal is ambitious but that in itself contains a substantial element of
risk, particularly in relation to older applicants. It is quite possible that there could be significant
delays in establishing a new process within the borough. Given that, the impact of any failure
would be substantial in terms of reputation and possibly cost. Given the substantial change
London Councils Transport & Environment Committee
Freedom Pass 2010 Reissue Update
Agenda Item 6
18 March 2009
that is being proposed by Camden and the risks this entails, London Councils suggests
that the borough focuses on processing applications for disabled clients for the 2010
renewal.
London Borough of Ealing
The London borough of Ealing has about 40,900 elderly and 5,300 disabled clients. They are
experienced with dealing with the reissue for their disabled clients and the IT systems that they
have in place are robust and their client data is up to date. During our discussions with them they
have indicated that they are still to come to a decision as to whether to deal with their disabled
clients for this reissue or use the post office. London Councils is currently satisfied that
should the borough wish to do so they can process disabled applications.
London Borough of Sutton
The London borough of Sutton has about 29,900 elderly and 2,100 disabled clients. They are
currently an “own issue” borough for both these client groups and have had experience of
previous reissues. They have extensive knowledge of both the elderly and disabled clients and
the infrastructure needed to be in place in order to manage the 2010 reissue. Their systems may
need minor system changes to facilitate the new style application process. London Councils is
currently satisfied that should the borough wish to do so they can process disabled and
older applications.
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea has about 21,400 elderly and 2,300 disabled
clients. They are an “own issue” borough for their disabled clients and have experience of
processing their applications. This experience has enabled them to build an extensive database
for their disabled clients. However their systems may need minor system changes to facilitate
the new style application process. It is not clear as to the extent of the risk evaluation the
borough has undertaken in relation to processing applications for elderly people. Any problems
on this scale could create substantial delays for the customer and jeopardise the reputation of
the borough. There is also a concern regarding the idea that applicants will collect their pass
from various designated locations throughout the borough. This may well add additional delays
and possible customer confusion to what is already a time constrained process that will be very
different to previous reissues. Given the substantial change that is being proposed by
Kensington and Chelsea and the risks this entails, London Councils suggests that the
borough focuses on processing applications for disabled clients for the 2010 renewal.
London Councils also recommends they reconsider the distribution aspect of their
proposal given the risk of delay in card delivery.
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham has about 22,800 elderly and 5,600 disabled clients. They are
an “own issue” borough for their disabled clients and have experience with the reissue. This
experience has enabled them to build an extensive database for their disabled clients. It is clear
from our discussions with them that they will have to make some minor changes to their IT
infrastructure to accommodate the new style application process. London Councils is awaiting
confirmation that the borough still wishes to process applications for disabled passes,
but is reasonably satisfied that the borough is capable of doing so.
London Councils Transport & Environment Committee
Freedom Pass 2010 Reissue Update
Agenda Item 6
18 March 2009
3. Financial Implications
These are included within the report
4. Legal Implications
The Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 and associated secondary legislation requires that
London issues passes that conform to the format set out in the legislation by 1 April 2010.
5. Equalities Implications
There are no specific equalities implications for London Councils arising from this report.
6. Recommendations
The Committee is asked to:

Note the update, in particular the concerns over card availability and the proposal to take
these concerns up with Transport for London and the Secretary of State for Transport.
 Consider the report on the assessment of those boroughs that wish to process
applications.
Background Papers
Short Title of
Date
Document
2010 Reissue
of Freedom
Pass –
supplementary
report to TEC
October
2008
File Location
London Councils
59½ Southwark Street
London Se1 0AL
London Councils Transport & Environment Committee
Freedom Pass 2010 Reissue Update
Contact
Officer
Exempt Info
Para under
Schedule
12A
No
Agenda Item 6
18 March 2009