Council finance: Rural region warns of £5m shortfall in free bus travel funds

MPs and council officials met Local Government Minister Baroness Hanham yesterday to urge her to re-think after the county council emerged as one of the biggest losers in funding for the scheme.

The county's large elderly population and high numbers of visitors from other areas are not taken into account by the Government's formula for deciding how much areas should get to finance free travel for old people and the disabled,

County council chief executive Richard Flinton said: "One of the things we're looking at at the moment is quite a substantial change in our libraries. We're looking at closing a number of them, closing all our mobile libraries and the amount of money that will save is 2.3m – in that context 5m is a massive hit for us."

MPs have seized on a commitment by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles to listen to their concerns as a sign that Ministers may be sympathetic, although the squeeze on public spending will restrict room for manoeuvre.

The shortfall is due to hit in April.

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith said North Yorkshire was one of the worst hit areas in the country.

"I'm very sympathetic to the council's case that they've come out very badly on the concessionary bus fares," he said. "For such a rural area it's going be a big challenge."