asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now state the amount of support given to each retirement pensioner in (a) Gloucester, (b) Cheltenham, (c) the Cotswoldsk, (d) Tewkesbury, (e) Stroud, and (f) South Gloucestershire as concessionary bus fare support in 1978, 1977, 1976 and 1975.

The expenditure incurred by the local authorities on concessionary fares, expressed as an amount per elderly resident, is estimated to be as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report those local authorities which provide retirement pensioners with half or more of their bus fares in 1978.

This information cannot readily be determined because many authorities issue tokens whose value to pensioners depends on the journeys they make and on local fare levels.

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how much money

						£'000s
				1976–77	1977–78	1978–79
Avon	…	…	…	659	613	730
Gloucestershire	…	…	…	254	173	251
Hereford and Worcestershire	…	…	…	269	339	494
Somerset	…	…	…	69	152	300
Gwent	…	…	…	428	515	575

The figures are derived from the financial and rating statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Separate figures for Worcestershire are not available.