As part of the implementation of the new England-wide concession, which guarantees older and eligible disabled people free off peak travel on local buses anywhere in England, all concessionary passes are now issued as smartcards to a new standard design. Local authorities are responsible for issuing passes, and so central Government does not maintain records of how many individual authorities have issued, though we do know that around eight million passes have now been issued in total across England.
The last information held by the Department for Transport was that as of 31 March 2009, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, which administers the concession for residents of Denton and Reddish, had issued around 460,000 of the new smartcard concessionary passes. This includes applications from disabled people as well as those aged 60 and over.
The Department of Health has been unable to provide the number of NHS-funded sight tests for those aged 60 and over in the Denton and Reddish constituency. Information is provided by Primary Care Trust (PCT) and by Strategic Health Authority (SHA) but is not available by parliamentary constituency.
The number of NHS sight tests for those aged over 60, in 2007-08 is available in Table B3 of Annex C of the General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales: Year Ending 31 March 2008 report. This report, published on 20 November 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gosactivitv0708p2
From 1 April 1999, eligibility for an NHS sight test was extended to everyone aged 60 or over. Patients may qualify for an NHS sight test on more than one criterion. However, they would only be recorded against one criterion on the form. Patients are more likely to be recorded according to their clinical need rather than their age. For example, a patient aged over 60 with glaucoma is likely to be recorded in the glaucoma category only. The count by eligibility is therefore approximate. Patients may also have had more than one sight test in the specified time period.
2007-08 is the latest full year for which information is available. Information for 2008-09 is expected to be published by the NHS Information Centre in August 2009.