A recurring theme on the doorstep is the disappointment and anger from pensioners about the decision to refuse free rail passes by the Conservative Council. It’s made worse by West Lancs being bordered by Merseyside and Greater Manchester where pensioners receive free rail travel.

Our MP has rightly demanded that the Council should spend the extra money that it received for concessionary travel on free rail passes.

However, we need to find a way forward that gets beyond party politics and helps pensioners in West Lancs. If Labour and the Conservatives just keep throwing bricks at each other then nothing will change.

Greater Manchester and Merseyside have “Passenger Transport Executives” which consider integrated transport across all their boroughs. I believe that Lancashire County should have the same – pulling together public transport, subsidies and concessions under one roof.

The County have an Overview and Scrutiny committee which can review issues that aren’t necessarily part of the County’s remit but that affect the residents in Lancashire. Members of the public can currently make suggestions of subjects that they want the committee to scrutinise.

To try and move things forward with the local travel passes, I have written to the County Council asking that the O&S committee reviews the free train passes in Manchester and Merseyside, with a view to implementing the scheme across Lancashire. Of course, they might want to consider something else, but given that local Tories in West Lancs aren’t likely to budge on the issue, we need to keep trying other avenues.