London Councils awards £1.8m Freedom Pass contract

London Councils has signed a £1.8m contract with smart card firm ESP Systex for the administration of the Freedom Pass concessionary travel scheme. Under the five year contract, the company will be responsible for the production of new and replacement passes as well as handling public enquiries about the scheme, which allows older Londoners and eligible disabled residents to travel free on the capital's transport networks. London boroughs pay for the Freedom Pass, which is run by London Councils – a thinktank and lobbying group which also runs services - on their behalf. There are currently around 1.1 million older people plus 145,000 disabled Freedom Pass holders. Chair of London Councils' transport and environment committee, Catherine West said: "This single, London-wide contract provides large economies of scale on both the Freedom Pass production and back office service. The deal offers substantial savings for London boroughs, especially during the next Freedom Pass reissue in 2015 when the current passes expire." The new contract begins on 1 July, with the option of a two year extension. This article is published by Guardian Professional. For weekly updates of news, debate and best practice on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here.