Overview

• The Department for Transport confirms people will wait an extra year for an English National Concessionary Travel Scheme pass as the State Pension age begins rising from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
• Local authorities retain discretion to offer extra concessions, including from age 60, using their own budgets, with £712 million in new bus funding allocated to councils this year.
• The statutory scheme costs about £700 million annually, which the DfT cites as a reason to weigh any national expansion carefully.
• Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London provide free local bus travel from 60, a contrast that has fueled calls for parity in England.
• A petition surpassing 100,000 signatures awaits a Commons debate, and the DWP’s state pension age review led by Dr Suzy Morrissey has a call for evidence open until October 24, 2025.