An extraordinary amount of money is being spent by our local authorities on free bus passes for the over 60s. In the space of a year, Oxfordshire’s five district councils will have spent £6.5m on a new and expanded concessionary bus fare scheme that was not of their choosing, nor of their making.

To cap it all, most of them will be reimbursed for no more than half of the cost of the scheme by a Government that dreamed the whole thing up. In the case of Oxford City Council, it will receive only £800,000 for a scheme that will cost it £3.2m a year.

Free bus passes are a wonderful thing for those who are eligible for them. But, as we are so often reminded, nothing comes free.

A free bus pass is a good thing in principle but should it be so widely available? There are many over 60s who have worked hard all their life for very little money and do not have large pensions. Who would begrudge them a free bus pass? We certainly do not.

At the same time, there are many over 60s, particularly in Oxfordshire, who earned well during their working lives and live comfortably on private and company pensions. Many will be better off than a significant number of those in work.

In the circumstances, the city council’s decision to review the start-time for its concessionary scheme, making it 9.30am rather than 9am, is the least it can do to reduce the burden on the council taxpayer.

As for the Government, the example of Oxfordshire should demonstrate how grossly unfair the current arrangements are. Oxford’s council taxpayers are shouldering half the burden for a scheme simply because many of the bus journeys undertaken in Oxfordshire involve trips into and out of the city.

If the Government wishes to promote a universal free bus pass scheme then it should be funded by national taxation, with the burden shared equally. Only then could the Government claim to be truly accountable for a decision that is costing the taxpayer a tidy sum.