Decision - Investing in subsidised bus travel

Brighton and Hove Cabinet Decided 14 May 2026 · effective 23 May 2026 approved Key decision GET /api/coverage

Decision maker

Cabinet

Report author

Paul Nicholls

Published

15 May 2026

Reference

7625

As published

the council's own words, unedited

This report shares the outcomes of negotiations on the concessionary travel payments.

1) Cabinet notes the progress of negotiations on concessionary fares payments with bus operators and agrees to the payment of the fixed deals as set out in Part 2 of this report. 2) Cabinet confirms the delegated authority granted to the Corporate Director City Operations on 20 March 2025 to conduct and conclude negotiations with all bus operators for the reimbursement of concessionary fares so that expenditure is less than would be otherwise be calculated using the new DfT Calculator.

Parsed from the document

gpt-5.6-luna-2026-07-09 · 2738/1030 tokens · 8995ms · parsed 8 Sep 2026 11:33

Everything below was read out of a PDF by a model It is useful and it is not authoritative. The document it came from is linked in the rail, and where the two disagree the document is right.

The report updates Cabinet on negotiations to reimburse bus operators for concessionary travel by older and disabled pass holders in 2026-27. It proposes an additional £1.5 million investment in free bus travel and a fixed payment of approximately £11.3 million to Brighton & Hove Buses, rather than using the higher Government formula.

Recommendation

Cabinet should note the progress of negotiations and agree to pay the fixed deals set out in Part 2, and confirm delegated authority for the Corporate Director City Operations to negotiate and conclude reimbursement arrangements with all bus operators at a cost below that calculated using the new DfT Calculator.

Financial impact

The approved 2026/27 budget for concessionary fares is £11.0 million, with an estimated additional pressure of £1.5 million. The negotiated fixed deal with Brighton & Hove Buses is approximately £11.3 million.

Ward affected

city-wide

Decision maker

Cabinet

Date in document

14 May 2026

Stakeholders named

parsed

Older concessionary pass holdersDisabled concessionary pass holdersBus operatorsBrighton & Hove BusesBrighton & Hove City Council

Next steps

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Cabinet to consider and approve the fixed concessionary fare payment arrangements.
The Corporate Director City Operations to negotiate and conclude reimbursement arrangements with all bus operators under delegated authority.
The additional savings identified for 2026/27 to be monitored alongside those approved in the budget.

Precedents

not built

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