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Although perhaps he should have used his loaf more, before posting most of that drivel.
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:D |
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Rob Furlong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Of course, that was for shooting vermin.;) Maybe he was awarded a bus pass for his shooting. |
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Oh wait a minute, we used to have that before some past government screwed it up. |
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Didn't realise that the buses were no longer local authority run. In my week here I noticed that there seem to be taxis everywhere in town but the buses seemed to be mainly empty...
Do pensioners still get free bus passes? |
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I was saying this morning I need one of those Max Cabs stickers for my car, I'm sure my car is the only one in Accrington without one. There's more taxis than people in accrington, all legitimate of course :rolleyes: |
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For economic reasons, the Council then had to sell the bus company to Stagecoach. I can speak with some knowledge on this - I was involved in the discussions surrounding the sale. |
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My bus pass is not free. I pay for it!
I have paid into the system all of my life. I have never been unemployed. I drew dole during the time when factories laid people off because of the power cuts.......but was never unemployed(you had to sign on to get your insurance stamp paid for). I get a free eye test...but pay for my glasses. I do not get free or concessionary dental treatment(yes, I do still have my own teeth). I could have free prescriptions, but currently take no prescribed medications. So my bus pass is the only thing that the government gives me....except, it doesn't because I still pay taxes......on my pension, council tax(at full rate).....tax on the meagre income my savings accrue.......so I assure you Groove......they are giving me nothing. I earned it! |
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Ignore the clown margaret..........hes banned now anyway.:D
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I noticed, but it incenses me when folk think the bus pass is free. I was waiting for the bus to go to Manchester recently and some young folk were talking about all us oldies being able to get on the bus and travel for free....so it is a widespread belief.
These whippersnappers forget that one day they might be old too....if they live long enough. And yes Neil, I did respond, but not to him....to the topic! I have him on ignore. |
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I have read the post that the groovy idiot posted and have held my finger off the keyboard until now. I have a bus pass, I have used it twice to go into Accrington but still find it easier to drive straight from my garage to town rather than walk the two hundred yards to the bus stop, OK I am a lazy so and so but after 73 years the old body is getting a bit weary. |
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well, I hope he does get old and weary, and have to use whatever the authorities are willing to dole out to him.
I wish him a very interesting old age........maybe full of medical appointments that require travel on public transport. See if he changes his ideas then. No-one gives me anything...and what is more I do not want them to. I pay my own way in the world, and when I can't pay...then I won't go. I think the people who think the bus pass is an expensive unnecessary expense on the public purse forget that many older people are excluded by the fact that they have difficulty getting about(not disabled, but no car to get about it)......this social exclusion is bad for their health, both physical and mental. We all need a degree of social interaction in our lives(of one sort or another). |
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Ma is much the same. We have just returned from a spell in North Wales and Ma was animated and transformed when she had company to talk to. She forget(well, for a time anyway) her aches and pains. She enjoyed new faces and says she slept really well.
She certainly enjoyed her grub. |
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"Trouble? What trouble? It's the highlight of our week coming into town and chatting to people when we come to pay our bills!" was the answer. |
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Every Saturday we see an old lady(I hope she doesn't mind me calling her that - she is old in years, but in mind she is young)she uses her bus pass to go into town just to get a paper and two custards. She tells us that she enjoys the company of the folk on the bus....she happily chats to whoever is sat next to her.
My husband seeks her out because thay both like to have a good old chinwag. For the rest of the week the lady is on her own....she looks forward to her trip to town, but she is nearly always on the next bus back home. . |
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Just checked the City of Kingston website ... Kingston Transit offers discounts to seniors on monthly bus passes. For seniors, a pass costs $46.25. There are also discounts for low income families. The only free pass available is one for carers. Kingston, like other municipalities, owns and operates its own buses. These are paid for out of municipal tax revenues, sometimes supplemented by the Provincial govt. Students at Queen's University can ride the bus for free, using their student cards. However, Queen's student government pays Kingston Transit a lump sum for this privelege.
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:D |
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I also have always called it a "free" bus pass as that's what i've always heard it called -my Uncle calls his that and my Grandparents in the past. Perhaps just "bus pass" is better.:) |
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Yes Mobertol....I hope you had a very pleasant visit. ( I see you caught the Elbow bug while you were here).
Yes, that the bus pass is free, is a huge misconception. Anyone who pays council tax, or pays income tax, or any other kind of levy to the government, is actually paying for the privilege of using their bus pass......but because you don't actually hand over money to get it(although there is an administration fee...can't now remember how much it is) people see it as being free. |
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The NHS is viewed to be a free service.......but we all pay into that....it is just free at the point of use...paid for in advance by taxes and National Insurance contributions.
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Yes John, you are perfectly right there.......and this is an unwarranted drain on the public purse..unlike bus passes.
My point was, that the NHS is free at the point of service, but it isn't a free service we pay for it by the levy of National Insurance and tax. The NHS has the power to charge health tourists. |
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It's one of those words that we say without realising the correct term
Free bus pass, Fresh air, Hoover, That dress is perfect, No it doesn't look big, I'm typing this quietly so I don't get sent to my room. |
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You would be perfect in the diplomatic service.:)
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Well, when I worked in the NHS, we questioned our admissions on the length of time they had lived in the UK, if it was less than 12 months we contacted a clerical officer to come and assess their eligibility for treatment on the NHS.
The sad fact was, that those who were not eligible to treatment on the NHS would leave the country before any money could be obtained for their treatment. |
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It would be easy to bring in a system that ensured health tourists paid for treatment. The problem is that there would have to be the will to carry it out. If you were in America you would have to establish payment details in the treatment room. Here, talking about payment is not british. |
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I think your logic is flawed, I pay all those things but I don't get free travel on buses. I think if someone took it to court they would have a good case for age discrimination. I dont disagree with free bus passes for old folk but that is what you get, free travel on buses. |
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Neil, I have to disagree with you.
How long have you paid those taxes? Do you earn a living wage? I have paid into the system all of my life. Drawn nothing much in the way of benefits(a bit of dole during the three day week......sickness benefit after a major op) other than that nothing. And the bus pass allows us to travel on the bus without paying a fare at the time of travel, but I assure you I have paid(and am still paying- I am taxed on my pension, and on my small amount of savings) for this travel. Hopefully Neil, if you live long enough, you will be allowed to reap the benefits of old age. They aren't many and some of them are a bit bitter. |
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:D Everyone is entitled to a bus pass, if you're lucky enough to reach pensionable age, after paying tax all your life into the pot that funds it. |
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so what about disabled bus passes .. should they be got rid of as well ....
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There's no such thing as disability. It's just laziness, or the fact they don't try very hard to do things. Make them walk. :rolleyes::D |
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really? if only you could see me now rindy ..
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Sarcasm, seeing I'm supposedly disabled too? You saying that, makes me think you're hurt again? Really hope not. x :mad: |
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I know a bloke whose girlfriend got a nice new car on disability a few years ago because her doctor said she could only walk short distances, funny how she was doing her pub training so they could run their own pub together. Not much walking involved in running a bar is there :rolleyes: |
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That's fraud. No different from defrauding the Inland Revenue, or one of the many other ways people try to cheat the system. :mad: |
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I know someone who lost their job, after being laid off, shortly after it was revealed he had an incurable, degenerative illness, and who committed suicide, after trying to access any social benefits associated with his disability.
Perhaps one of the fraudters, who apparently find the system so easy to cheat, could write a guide book, for all those genuinely in need, and who find the whole process nigh on impossible to fathom. |
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She would have had to fill in a detailed 40 page questionaire, and then subit it. 70% of first time claims aren't approved, but you are allowed to appeal. On appeal you are examined by an independent medical board, which she will have had to convince that what she stated on the application, about her physical disability was true. She must have been found to be severely disabled, and awarded the higher level of mobility benefit, in order to qualify for her having the car. Forget running a pub. Tell her to consider the stage. After telling her she's a fraudster. Who's not only cheated the tax payer, but every genuine person who struggle to get the benefits they are by rights entitled to. :mad: |
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Should we stop all social benefits, child allowance, tax credits, maternity benefits etc, because there'll always be some scum, who find a way to defraud the system? Thousands cheat the I.R. daily, by doing cash in hand foreigners. Should we stop paying tax? |
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there is a story in the paper today about a couple who were trying to live on £57 per week....she was mentally handicapped, illiterate and uemployable because of her mental handicap...she had been refused the disability living allownace, and because of this her husband could not claim carers allowance...they had a 12 year old daughter who has now been taken from them and she had lost the child benefit.......the couple committed suicide because they could not face the winter and the hardship of living on £57 per week.
How can this happen when we let people who have no allegiance to the country come in and claim a whole raft of benefits? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...e-poverty.html |
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Not only that, we have companies who make vast profits who fail to pay their dues and taxes. |
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I've come into contact with many people, some of which have lost their homes, seen their relationships disintegrate, and the one I know, mentioned previously, who took his own life, all through the stress involved of trying to access benefits, which by rights they should be entitled to, as well as them having paid to fund them, up until falling ill.
These aren't people a bit depressed, or with a sore back. They've been medically diagnosed as having an incurable, degenerative disease, yet who still struggle greatly to access social benefits. Like I said. The fraudsters, who find the system so easy to cheat, just write a book, to help those who are genuine, but who find the system a nightmare. |
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:rolleyes: That's being fortunate enough to have access to teams skilled in some very creative accountancy. :mad: |
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Otherwise some of our government politicans wouldn't be doing it. ;) |
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1 cracking black eye, swollen cheek, sore knee and bruised and sore elbow the bruising just coming out now ... :rolleyes: |
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:mad: Sorry. x |
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Careful, hon ... if you keep on thinking like this, you might end up spending the winter in a tent in Barnes Square as part of "Occupy Clayton (Bottom End)" :eek:;):D |
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Eric, I don't think there is any mileage in occupying Barnes Square...we don't get the Archbishop of Canterbury taking much interest in bottom end matters(Take that any way you want - there is a joke there somewhere:))
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I can't honestly see Sky TV taking any interest either.
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As an "Insider" please allow me to tell you a few home truths!
My bus route which I have done for 2 years now, leaves Accy bus station, goes around Laneside, up to the college and returns to the station. The entire trip takes 20 minutes and I do 2 trips each hour (except lunchtimes;)) I have approx 200 regular passengers of which: Only 5% pay full fare 10% or less have a disabled pass 84% are elderly 1% is Willow with a staff pass making sure I don't chat up the 85 year olds:p With almost no exception, the flat fare for an adult is £1-25, the company get paid just UNDER half of this for each pensioner or disabled person with a pass and also gets a small subsidy from the council for running the service. It is less than frequent that I issue 200 tickets per day and I would estimate that the company would make (very approximately) around £20-00 per day after deducting my wages and the cost of running a bus inc. maintenance and fuel. Why do they do it? only because running 20 buses makes enough profit to pay the boss.Yard Manager and things like the incredible insurance costs for a fleet of PCV's. The area I serve overlooks the town centre and many customers prefer to walk (downhill) into town rather than use their "free" bus passes but will use the bus to get them and their shopping home. The AVERAGE age of my customers is around 80 years old. If travellers discovered how much metal is secreted under their skin (hips, knees etc) they would be in grave danger of being dismantled in their beds. They can spend 20 minutes just getting to the bus stop to go into town, struggle in pain to climb the three steps to get on the bus and many cannot walk much further than the market OR post office (different directions) Some customers will use the service twice or even three times in one day. This is because they are UNABLE to carry more than one light bag at a time and it will require two separate journeys to complete their shopping. VERY OFTEN, they will apologise to me for using the service twice in one day but it's because they have forgotten something that is important! (I can sympathise with them, as you get older....err, sorry, forgot what I was going to say) I am often told by my customers/friends that without the bus service, they would not be able to get out at all (Can you imagine being 80 years old, on your own and in too much pain to walk the mile into town? Your home would be a prison!) The bus is like a coffee morning. (without the coffee) They can chat to each other and pass on gossip, it is the highlight of their day - to be able to communicate! to find out who is ill - or who amongst them has died :( As for those that should NOT have a free pass, yes, there are a few. On my run, I know of one alcoholic that should spend a little of his beer money on fares rather than lager, there is one lady that supposedly suffers from M.E. but in two years, I have never seen her in ANY physical stress and regularly goes to a gym to lose weight so that she will look good when she goes to the Caribbean in December to be with (Marry?) her fiance, There are four "younger" fares that may or may not have mental problems, they go regularly to the "mount" but whether they should or should not have a disabled pass is not my decision to make:rolleyes: I also know of three couples that are well into retirement age - and as well as having free bus passes, enjoy at least three foreign holidays each year.......and good luck to them! They have obviously paid extra into a pension for their old age and despite heavy taxation on additional incomes, they have invested enough to enjoy themselves.........and why not!! FOR THOSE THAT FEEL THAT BUS PASSES SHOULD BE ABOLISHED, I challenge you to spend an hour on my bus and TALK to my passengers about their age and why they use the bus service. LOOK at what old age does to the body and soul - and if you still feel that the majority of these people do not deserve something back from the government, I will recompense you your fare which would be a miserly £2-50 for an hours travel. I leave Bridge St. at 10 to the hour and 40 mins past the hour every day except Sundays. |
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That's the gist of it, it cost too much because of the people who are not entitled to claim, but did. The fact that they claimed they couldn't walk but played golf, did a window round, and stuff like that.
But who is to blame, government for lack of enforcement, or society for thinking we will look the other way. |
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I hope you're getting your generous bonuses Busman mate, for checking tickets and passes.
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Absolutely Garinda, I receive almost even more than the legal minimum wages (except Saturdays which is run as a commercial enterprise rather than council sponsored so I have to take a wage cut then (seriously) good job I love my customers :alright: |
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Bit unfair if hard working British folk were spending their lives paying taxes to fund overly generous schemes, for people in distant lands. :rolleyes: |
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err, I fink I do :eek::eek: |
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Graham Jones has your back covered. Big on jobs, and workers' rights. (As long as they're jobs and workers' rights for our mainland European brothers.) :rolleyes: |
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Well said busman, completely agree. It's exactly the same here in Morecambe, though I don't think most of the drivers are as caring as you. The bus can be a lifeline for elderly folk. And for those like me who have a bus pass AND foreign holidays - well we have worked for them and paid our taxes so why not.
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God Bless you Busman. You have given an eloquent view of why the elderly deserve their passes.......and Thank you for caring.
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I think buses disrupt traffic!;
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It's Ok Cashy, he must've been a bit bored....let him play with the cars.
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Oh, Michael.....what a boy you are! :)
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Well, I wanted to say that, but he is only a boy after all.
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Isn't it typical?
You wait bloomin' ages for a bee, then two come along at once! |
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Read 'bus'. :o |
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Think ones buzzed of:D
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Your white petals are definitely pink now, you've been here so long. On the right side of them there big hills. :D |
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