MD3173 18-25 Care Leavers’ Discounted Travel Concession Scheme

1.1.    The Mayor of London wants to improve the London-wide offer for care leavers. To support this, in 2018 he signed up to the Care Leaver Covenant. This has led to the Mayor taking several actions   that aim to help care leavers in their transition from care to independence, and thus improve their life chances.
1.2.    Despite big improvements over the last decade, London’s children in care still face several obstacles and many remain particularly vulnerable. This means fewer care leavers go on to further training or university, and most face complex challenges as they transition into independent living. To help improve opportunities for care leavers to access education, employment and training opportunities, the Mayor of London pledged to introduce half-price travel for care leavers in London.
1.3.    Care leavers are young people who fall within the definition of ‘care leaver’ contained in section 2(7) of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. 
1.4.    Children come into local authority care for a variety of reasons. However, they will often have experienced significant trauma; the breakdown of family relationships; and a range of challenges and disadvantages. During the transition to adulthood, they are entitled to the same nurturing, support and opportunities that parents provide for their children. Together – as ‘corporate parents’, partners and society – it is important that we ensure that children who have not been able to live with their parents also have these entitlements met. 
1.5.    Whilst most care leavers are adults, understanding around the extended nature of adolescence has deepened, and young adulthood is increasingly recognised as a critical developmental stage of life. This is reflected in the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which extends local authorities’ support duty towards care leavers who request it until they are 25 (previously 21). The proposed Travel Concession will be available to London care leavers aged 18-25 years old.
1.6.    The Children’s Society estimates that there are 15,270  care leavers aged 18-25 in London, many of whom will often find it difficult to navigate living independently alongside having a job, undertaking training, or remaining in the education system post-18. Nationally nearly 38 per cent of care leavers aged 19-21 were known not to be in education, employment, or training. This compares to around 11 per cent of all 19- to 21-year-olds. 
1.7.    Furthermore, where care leavers do remain in education or seek a job or apprenticeship, the costs of doing so are often high. These include the costs of travel to and from work or education; clothing for interviews; specialist tools and equipment; and course fees. Care leavers also require extra support in sustaining employment, whether through expert advice and skills development; access to subsidised travel; or other job-related expenses.
1.8.    Care leavers can also find themselves effectively excluded from some education and training opportunities. For example, apprenticeships have a minimum hourly wage of £4.81,  less than half the London Living Wage of £11.95.  This means apprenticeships can be non-viable options for those who need to travel, and do not have financial support from parents. In addition, care leavers are particularly vulnerable to financial hardship. They are five times more likely to have their benefits sanctioned and suspended than other claimants, partly due to struggling to manage independently.  
1.9.    For many younger people, travel represents a gateway to adulthood, enabling independence, socialisation and a recognition of maturity. Cost of travel can be a barrier to using public transport in London. It is more likely to be cited as a deterrent to travel for Londoners aged 16-24 years old than for Londoners overall.  With the knowledge that support around education and job applications is less readily available for care leavers, providing them with discounted travel is a way to minimise the challenges they face overall.
1.10.    Reducing travel costs could help to make budgeting easier for care leavers; and improve their access to education, employment, and training opportunities. Such a corporate parenting intervention could help to address some of the financial difficulties that care leavers often face and that obstruct such opportunities; and also make it easier for care leavers to transition to financial independence. Making it easier for London care leavers to travel around London will help support and encourage their use of London’s public transport for work-related travel and leisure.
1.11.    The London Borough of Lambeth has been awarded £100,000 from a Department for Education (DfE) COVID-19 recovery fund to deliver a Pan London Offer for Care Leavers in 2023. The project is sponsored by the Association of London Directors of Children's Services (ALDCS); and supported by the Pan London Children in Care Council, part of the Partnership for Young London. 
1.12.    Each London borough currently has a care-leaver offer, but these are specific to each area and therefore the support offered varies. The Pan London Care Leavers Offer provides a framework for developing consistency, breadth and quality in the support offered to London’s care leavers. It is recognised that the offer to care leavers reaches beyond services provided by local authorities. Partners such as those in the health, education and transport sectors have important roles to play, as do the private and voluntary sectors. The Pan London Offer for Care Leavers is being delivered through seven thematic working groups, one of which considers transport. The groups are made up of key leads from across the region, and co-chaired by a sector specialist lead and a member of the Pan London Children in Care Council.
1.13.    Relevant officers from the GLA Group have been invited to join each thematic group, including transport. A defining principle of the Pan London Care Leavers Offer is the ‘community parenting’ approach that brings partners together to deliver high-quality and well-coordinated support offers. As such, it is the GLA’s intention to align the introduction of the care leavers’ concession with the Pan London Offer for Care Leavers. This will help bolster communication of the concession across local authorities and ensure it is joined up with the wider offer. 
The proposed Care Leavers’ Concession Scheme
1.14.    The new care leavers’ concession is aimed at those aged 18-25 who live in London, and have previously been in the care of a London borough and meet the definition of “care leaver” contained in section 2(7) of the Children and Social Work Act 2017. The 18-25 Care Leavers’ Discount Concession will be funded, administered and operated by TfL.
1.15.    The new travel concession for care leavers will provide half-price bus and tram travel via a personalised Oyster photocard. The concession will give 50 per cent off adult-rate pay-as-you-go fares on buses and trams, and Bus & Tram Pass season tickets. 
1.16.    After walking, travelling by bus is the most common transport option for younger Londoners; 59 per cent of all Londoners use the bus at least once a week compared with 66 per cent of those aged under 25. The bus is even more popular among 16 to 24-year-olds, with 76 per cent using them each week. 
1.17.    TfL’s system already has a mechanism in place for the provision of half-price bus and tram travel (under the Bus & Tram Discount photocard scheme which is available to eligible persons on Income Support or Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit), which will aid the introduction of the concession. Also bus and tram services are solely under TfL control, meaning the concession could be introduced without the need to compensate the train operating companies (TOCs) for loss of revenue. Where free or discounted travel is given on National Rail, TfL is required to compensate the TOCs accordingly. Compensation to the TOCs is likely to be substantial if half-price travel for care leavers was extended to the rail network. 
1.18.    It is not currently possible to offer concessionary travel on TfL run tube and rail services without including National Rail. To do so would require a new discount type to be developed. This would be complex and costly to introduce and may not be possible due to constraints in the legacy Oyster system. 
1.19.    Applications for the travel concession will be made online to TfL. If this Mayoral Decision (MD) is approved, applications are expected to open in early 2024. An administration fee will be payable, and a further fee will be charged to replace lost or damaged cards. To ensure only eligible care leavers receive the travel concession, the London Innovation and Improvement Alliance (LIIA), which is part of London Councils, will collate care-leaver data from across the 33 London boroughs and share this personal information with TfL for the purpose of processing applications. Eligible applicants who have been successfully verified against the LIIA data will be charged the administration fee required before an Oyster photocard is issued. Eligible applicants will be issued a personalised 18-25 Care Leavers Discount Oyster photocard, which will expire on the day before their 26th birthday. As with all TfL concessions, terms and conditions will apply.
1.20.    The proposed travel concessions will be available to eligible care leavers who are London residents. This residency requirement is consistent with many TfL concessions, including the existing Bus & Tram Discount photocard (see 1.17 above), and is considered appropriate and justified due to the potential costs of extending the scheme to non-Londoners; TfL’s available resources following the impact of the pandemic on TfL’s finances and requirements of government funding; and in view of the administrative and implementation difficulties involved in securing similar data sharing and application processing arrangements to those in place with LIIA (see above) but outside of London. 
 

2.1.    For the reasons set out above, it is considered that the introduction of the proposed travel concession will help further social and economic development in Greater London. It is estimated that approximately 15,000 individuals would be eligible for the travel concession when it is introduced. It is anticipated that it will cost TfL approximately £390,000 in development and administrative costs to establish and introduce the travel concession. This will be funded from its existing budgets, including utilising previous financial support for Mayoral ticketing priorities which have already been provided by the GLA. 
2.2.    Using the existing bus and tram discount scheme (available to those on certain benefits) as a comparable guide, TfL would expect roughly £2m-£3m revenue forgone per annum. This is on the basis of 15,000 care leavers using a bus and tram concession that provides travel for half the adult fare. This figure is an estimate, and the actual revenue forgone will depend on the current level of bus use; eligibility for other concessions; and future travel behaviour among care leavers. This does not include software and hardware costs to develop the new concession, nor the ongoing maintenance of it.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as public authorities, the Mayor and TfL are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have ‘due regard’ to the need to: 
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it
•    foster good relations between people who share a protected relevant characteristic and those who do not share it. 
3.2.    This may involve removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics; and taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people. Relevant protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The duty applies to the Mayor’s power to direct TfL as to making or waiving charges for its services under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act).
3.3.    Concessions are a way to promote fairness and inclusion by reducing barriers to use for groups that face economic, social or physical challenges. The proposed travel concession will contribute positively towards advancing equality of opportunity and helping to reduce the disadvantages experienced by many care leavers. It will not impact on the provision of any other concessions currently provided by TfL which consists of the 5-10 & 11-15 Zip Oyster photocard schemes for Under 16s, the 16+ Zip Oyster photocard scheme, the 18+ Student Oyster photocard scheme, the Apprentice Oyster photocard scheme, the 60+ London Oyster photocard scheme, the Veterans Oyster photocard scheme and the Bus & Tram discount photocard scheme.  
3.4.    The DfE’s 2022 report, ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’,  identified that of care leavers in England aged 19 to 21, 38 per cent were not in education, employment or training (NEET), compared to around 11 per cent of all people in the same age range. The latest statistics relating to the year ending 31 March 2022 show 45,940 such care leavers in England, of whom 63 per cent are male and 37 per cent female. It is also understood that nationally, children from Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups are over-represented among children in care.
3.5.    An Ofsted report looking at the experiences of care leavers found that many of them felt unprepared to manage money. In some cases, this led to them getting into debt, losing tenancies, or not being able to afford food or travel. When respondents were asked what made them feel unsafe upon first leaving care, being worried about money was the most common reason reported.  As stated at 1.8, above, care leavers are five times more likely to have their benefits sanctioned and suspended than other claimants. Additionally, the independent review of children’s social care, published in May 2022, noted that the leaving care grant at the value of £2,000 offered to care leavers, used to set up a first home, has not been updated in guidance since 2013 and has failed to keep pace with inflation or match the average cost of furnishing a first home. 
3.6.    As stated in 1.10 above, reducing travel costs should help to make budgeting easier for care leavers; and improve their access to education, employment and training opportunities. Making it easier for London care leavers to travel around London will help support and encourage their use of London’s public transport for work-related travel and leisure.
3.7.    For these reasons, as well as the other benefits of furthering the improvement of social and economic development in London generally, it is considered that it is proportionate and justified for the travel concession to only be available to eligible care leavers; noting that a range of other concessions are available for different groups as is identified in section 3.3 above.  
3.8.    All eligible care leavers living in London will be able to benefit from the travel concession. As stated in 1.6, above, this figure is estimated at 15,270.  
 

Key risks
4.1.    The introduction of a new travel concession must be well publicised and communicated to ensure that those who are eligible are aware and able to access it. It is intended that the boroughs and Pan London Offer for Care Leavers teams will be the prime source of information about the travel concession. In addition, TfL, the Pan London Offer for Care Leavers teams and the GLA plan to publicise the existence of the travel concession and the ways in which people should apply through the issuing of press notices. There are also plans to provide information on the TfL website.
4.2.    As with any concession scheme, there is a risk that TfL will receive some fraudulent applications. To help mitigate this, TfL will design the application process to ensure that the genuine care-leaver status of the applicant is verified with the boroughs, so that only those who are entitled to the concession can receive it. 
4.3.    The cost of the travel concession, estimated to be circa £3m in the first year, will be borne entirely by TfL within existing budgets, including utilising previous financial support for Mayoral ticketing priorities which have already been provided by the GLA. This expenditure will have an impact on TfL’s ability to fund other transport projects. However, it is considered that using these funds to enable care leavers aged 18-25 to be full and active members of London’s life and society is justified and consistent with the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS).
Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities 
4.4.    This concession links to several key Mayoral programmes including the Mayor’s New Deal for Young People, the Mayor’s delivery of the Robust Safety Net Recovery mission and the Mayor’s employability and skills programmes.
4.5.    The Mayor’s New Deal for Young People aims to ensure that 100,000 young Londoners most in need of support have access to mentoring opportunities by the end of 2024. Care leavers were identified as a group of young people most in need of tailored support. Reducing their travel costs could help ensure that travel is not a barrier to them accessing mentoring opportunities.
4.6.    The Mayor’s Robust Safety Net Recovery mission aims to ensure that by 2025 all Londoners can access the support they need to avoid and alleviate financial hardship. Reducing travel costs will help ease some of the financial pressures that care leavers face. It will also provide extra support to this particularly vulnerable group during the cost-of-living crisis.
4.7.    The Mayor’s employability and skills programmes aim to support Londoners to access the opportunities they need to gain meaningful employment and thrive. Reducing travel costs and making it easier for London care leavers to travel around London should help to improve their access to education, employment, training and skills.
4.8.    The MTS highlights the importance of improving transport for all Londoners; and, in doing so, of ensuring that transport costs are affordable where possible. The travel concession will make bus and tram travel more affordable for care leavers. This also supports the Mayor’s aim to reduce emissions associated with car dependency through increased public transport use.
4.9.    Care leavers travelling by bus will continue to benefit from the Hopper fare, which allows unlimited bus and tram journeys within an hour for the price of a single fare. This was introduced to make bus travel across the capital more affordable to everyone.
Consultations and impact assessments
4.10.    This MD proposes that the Mayor delegates his general powers under section 30 of the GLA Act in connection with the proposed travel concession and its implementation. Under section 32 of that Act, the powers conferred by section 30 are only exercisable after such consultation with stakeholder bodies (listed in section 32(2)) as the Mayor (acting for the GLA) considers appropriate in the particular case. The Mayor asked TfL to develop this concession and, in doing so, TfL has consulted and worked closely with LIIAA and others (see below), which is considered to be appropriate consultation in this case. 
4.11.    A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) has been undertaken by TfL, which outlines how it will manage and process the personal data associated with the scheme and comply with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. It includes steps that will be taken to protect data and reduce risks and ensure that data is securely held and only used for its intended purposes. The DPIA has not identified any high-risk processing and has been reviewed and signed off by TfL’s Data Protection Officer. The DIPA is attached at Appendix B. LIIA are also in the process of completing a DPIA.
4.12.    Support has been secured from London Councils to assist in verification of an applicant’s care-leaver status. LIIAA has a dedicated team that will collate the applicant’s eligibility data from across the 33 boroughs. Only London Councils has access to this data. The eligibility check will rely solely on London Councils’ verification step during the application process. 
4.13.    Representatives from the boroughs of Lambeth, Bexley, and Hammersmith and Fulham have been working collaboratively with TfL and LIIA to help provide input and shape the proposal for the care leavers’ concession. Discussions have centred around the design of the required processes at the local-authority level that will facilitate an orderly, smooth and successful application experience for care leavers. Furthermore, the represented boroughs have been asked to consider aspects of the proposal including how each local authority: will promote the concession to its care leavers; capture expressions of interest from care leavers; and support them through the application process. The represented boroughs have also been asked to consider how they will ensure relevant staff are familiar with the requirements of administering the concession. The input during this design phase will contribute to the proposal put forward to all 33 local authorities. TfL will continue to work with LIIA after launch of the concession.
Conflicts of interest
4.14.    There are no conflicts of interest to note for those involved in drafting or clearing this decision. 
 

5.1.    Paragraph 11e of TfL’s funding agreement with government dated August 2022 states:
“If you [the Mayor] and TfL wish Londoners to continue to benefit from travel concessions and/or other benefits above those typically available elsewhere in England (such as free travel for all Londoners aged under 18 and 60-65, excluding statutory entitlements including under the Education Act 1996) then you and TfL recognise that the costs of these additional benefits will not be met by HMG funding; and you and TfL commit to meeting the costs of these additional benefits during the Funding Period, without recourse to additional borrowing, savings, service changes, the new revenue streams resulting from paragraph 11a or deferrals.”
5.2.    TfL is funding the development and ongoing costs of this new concession from its existing budgets, including utilising previous financial support for Mayoral ticketing priorities which have already been provided by the GLA. The impact of future foregone revenue will be considered and mitigated as part of TfL’s usual business planning process.
5.3.    There are no direct financial implications to the GLA arising from this report.
 

The Fares Direction
6.1.    The travel concession will be implemented by the Mayor issuing a statutory Fares Direction under sections 155 and 174 of the GLA Act requiring TfL to grant the concession. The details for this are as follows:  
•    Under section 155(1), the Mayor may issue to TfL general directions as to the manner in which it is to exercise its functions or specific directions as to the exercise of its functions.
•    Under section 174(1), the Mayor is under a duty to exercise his powers under section 155(1) so as to ensure the determination of, among other things, the general level and structure of the fares to be charged for public passenger transport services provided by TfL, or by any other person in pursuance of any agreement entered into by TfL. Previous travel concessions, such as the Veterans Travel Concession in 2005 and the London 60+ Photocard Scheme, have been implemented in this way. 
•    The Mayor has the statutory power to approve the travel concession under: section 30 of the GLA Act (which contains the GLA’s general powers – see below); his general transport duty under section 141 (to develop and implement policies and proposals for the promotion and encouragement of safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport services and facilities to from and within Greater London); and the GLA’s subsidiary powers under section 34 of the GLA Act. 
6.2.    TfL will implement the concession on its services in accordance with the 18-25 Care Leavers’ Concession Scheme Delegation and Direction 2023 (the Fares Direction) under its general power to provide public passenger transport services under section 173 of the GLA Act, together with its own subsidiary powers to do anything that facilitates, or is incidental or conducive to, the exercise of its functions; or that it considers expedient or necessary to do so. 
6.3.    The Fares Direction is contained at Appendix A to this MD. 
Delegation of the Mayor’s social and economic improvement powers to TfL
6.4.    The Fares Direction includes a delegation by the Mayor to TfL of his powers to do anything which he considers will further the promotion of social and economic development and wealth creation in Greater London, under section 30(1) and (2)(a) – (b) of the GLA Act. The proposed travel concession is a measure that furthers the promotion of such matters and, in particular, social development, by means of assisting eligible care leavers to have discounted travel for the reasons given in this MD. 
6.5.    Under section 38(1), any function exercisable on behalf of the GLA by the Mayor is also exercisable on behalf of the GLA by TfL if or to the extent that the Mayor so authorises, whether generally or specially, and subject to any conditions imposed by the Mayor. Under section 38(7) TfL has the power to exercise functions on behalf of the GLA, in accordance with section 38, whether or not it would have power to do so apart from the delegation and irrespective of the nature of the function delegated. 
6.6.    The usual conditions contained in Mayoral Delegations will apply, e.g. cooperation with the GLA Monitoring Officer in relation to their duties under section 73 of the GLA Act.
The Equality Act 2010 and the eligibility criteria 
6.7.    The Equality Act recognises that certain circumstances or situations arising from the provision of services and performance of public functions should be exempt from what would otherwise constitute discrimination under the Act (section 29). Paragraph 30A of Schedule 3 to the Equality Act provides:  

“Concessions
30A.    (1) A person does not contravene section 29, so far as relating to age discrimination, by giving a concession in respect of a service to persons of a particular age group.
(2) The reference to a concession in respect of a service is a reference to a benefit, right or privilege having the effect that the manner in which the service is provided is, or the terms on which it is provided are, more favourable than the manner in which, or the terms on which, it is usually provided to the public (or, where it is provided to a section of the public, that section).”
6.8.    The proposed travel concession falls within this exception. 
6.9.    The proposed travel concession is a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of advancing equality of opportunity and helping to reduce the disadvantages experienced by many care leavers, and furthering the improvement of social development in Greater London generally. It would be one of a number of concessions offered by TfL – see section 3.3 above. Officers consider that the residency requirement is appropriate and justified (see 1.20 above).
6.10.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as public authorities, the Mayor and TfL are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have ‘due regard’ to the need to (i) eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by or under the Act; (ii) advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not share it; and (iii) foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not share it. Relevant protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The duty above applies to the Mayor’s power to direct TfL to introduce the Travel Concession. In deciding whether to approve this decision, the Mayor is required to have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty, and the equality implications of the proposed decision, summarised in section 3, above.
Care leavers
6.11.    Care leavers are defined in section 2(7) of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 as (a) eligible children within the meaning given by paragraph 19B of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989; (b) relevant children within the meaning given by section 23A(2) of the Children Act 1989; (c) persons aged under 25 who are former relevant children within the meaning given by section 23C(1) of the Children Act 1989; and (d) persons qualifying for advice and assistance within the meaning given by section 24 of the Children Act 1989.   
 

Appendix A: Direction to TfL
Appendix B: Data Protection Impact Assessment

[1] GLA, Support for Care Leavers

[2] The Children’s Society, Towards a London-wide Local Care Offer

[3] DfE, Children looked after in England including adoptions, 13 July 2023

[4] Low Pay Commission, Minimum wage rates for 2022, 27 October 2021

[5] GLA, London Living Wage

[6] The Children’s Society, Claiming after care, August 2017

[7] TfL, Travel in London: Understanding our diverse communities 2019

[8] DfE, Children looked after in England including adoptions, 13 July 2023

[9]Ofsted, ‘Ready or not’: care leavers’ views of preparing to leave care, 19 January 2022

[10] DfE, Independent review of children’s social care final report 23 May 2022

[11] The Children’s Society, Towards a London-wide Local Care Offer