Cut-price youth bus fares must be 'fully costed'

The scheme gives under-25s bus fares for £1 as long as they carry their pass

A mayoral authority said there was "clear and unanimous" support for making a scheme that gave young people cheaper bus fares permanent.

However, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) added that extending the Tiger pass beyond the autumn would need to be "fully costed".

It came after Labour East claimed the pass - which gave under-25s £1 fares - was under threat and set up a petition to save it.

A spokesperson for the CPCA, which is led by Conservative mayor Paul Bristow, said there had been a "misunderstanding" over decisions made at a meeting on 4 June and there was "unanimous desire to retain the pass".

CPCA mayor Paul Bristow has said he wanted to keep the Tiger pass scheme going

The CPCA spokesperson said: "At the recent board meeting, there was a clear and unanimous desire to retain the pass in a permanent form.

"However, any permanent scheme must be both sustainable and fully costed.

"The transport committee has therefore been asked to explore and evaluate viable options to achieve this."

The Tiger pass has been used for more than one million journeys and gives £1 fares on a single bus journey to children and young people under the age of 25.

At the meeting, a recommendation backed by Bristow to use money raised from the bus fare cap to continue the Tiger pass until March 2026 was voted down.

Labour East set up a petition, claiming that Bristow had refused to rule out cuts.

Bristow, who has previously confirmed his plan to keep the Tiger pass scheme going, did not wish to respond to Labour's claims.

A paper outlining options for the future of the pass will be presented to the CPCA's transport and infrastructure committee on 25 June.