Cllr Matthew Balfour,

The young people and working families of Kent have not been consulted over a planned raise in the price. We believe that the raised price of the YPTP to £250 a year is not only horrendous, but it is not justifiable from a majority Conservative council supposedly aimed at helping working families.

Last year, I am aware that many campaigned against the rise of the Freedom Pass (which was changed to the Young Person’s Travel Pass, as you swiftly took away most freedoms such as being able to use the pass during holidays and at weekends). However, we were not listened to and had to face losing out on £100 which many working class families were left to deal with the struggle.

 
According to a recent survey of nearly 800 young people across Kent, we found that on average, young people rate the quality of the public transport they receive at 4.3 out of 10. To make working families pay more for this already poor service would be outrageous.

Whilst we all understand that KCC has decided to make massive savings, young people should not be targeted. You were elected to represent us, not tax us - because that's effectively what this is. Are you targeting young people because we are unable to vote? Why should be made to pay extortionate prices to get to and from compulsory places of education?

Again, you and your colleagues were elected to represent the electorate. You were not elected to inflict harm and make the standards of living harder. Your electorate do not want this change. The cost of the travel pass should be going down and you should find your savings in other areas such as administration, HR or IT. In Management, your council spent £166,000,000 in the 2014/15 budget. By comparison, you only spent £13.4m on the Young Person's Travel Card. How is this right? In what world did your electorate elect you to make the decision to spend more of their taxes on administration and management than travel to and from school for their children?

Do not vote to increase the cost of the Young Person's Travel Card. 

If the final result is that you and your colleagues vote to increase bus travel for us, it will be a decision that is fine for people like you who do not have to pay out unjustifiable fees to transport young people like ourselves to and from school. But for disadvantaged and middle-income families across the county that you claim to represent, it will only increase the burden. You should not 'continue to choose to support families in Kent', it is your duty.

Finally, I understand that this is 'the most generous' transport card outside London. Why is it not the most generous card in the whole of the UK? Why do you want to make it less generous? I eagerly await your response and when voting with your colleagues, please bear in mind the issues that I raise above. Every young person in Kent, including me, feels very strongly about this issue and targeting us just to save perhaps a million pounds out of over £200m, is just ludicrous. I ask not that you reduce the cost of this card, but to keep it the same. What you are doing is a choice, not a necessity.