The Government did its usual trick when it came to concessionary bus fares - make a decision, then let someone else pay for it.

The someone else in this case is the poor council taxpayer.

Ministers decided that pensioners should be entitled to free travel, but gave no extra help to implement such schemes.

Councils, fearing that their costs would escalate, interpreted the Government's wishes in different ways, leading to a variety of regulations.

In Oxford, for example, the elderly can travel free only in the city limits and outside peak hours.

Different rules apply outside the city, adding to the confusion.

Now the argument in the city has come to a head, with the city council at loggerheads with the two bus companies over how much it should pay.

The council obviously wants to pay the least it can, while the bus companies want to maximise their profits.

The poor pensioner is caught in the middle. It now looks as if ministers will have to arbitrate in a row they have caused in the first place.

With any decision, the Government should make its intentions crystal clear so that there can be uniformity nationwide.

It should also make sure that it provides enough money so its decisions can be fully implemented, without penalising the very people it has set out to help.