Editing Freedom Pass (section)

==History==
The scheme was created in 1973 by the [[Greater London Council]],<ref name=intro>{{cite news |title= Ken Livingstone: six new lies in a single afternoon... |url= http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100147088/ken-livingstone-six-new-lies-in-a-single-afternoon/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120329235542/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100147088/ken-livingstone-six-new-lies-in-a-single-afternoon/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= 29 March 2012 |work= [[Daily Telegraph]] (blog) |location =London |last=Gilligan |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Gilligan |date=27 March 2012 |access-date=16 April 2012}}</ref> although there had been concessionary bus fare schemes in London before that. When the council was abolished in 1986, responsibility for the scheme passed to the [[London borough]] councils. The cost of providing the travel concession is negotiated between [[London Councils]] and the local transport operator [[Transport for London]] (TfL). It is funded through a mixture of national grant and council tax. In 2007 there was a dispute between [[Mayor of London]] Ken Livingstone and London Councils on the negotiation process, in particular the ability for the [[Greater London Authority]] to impose a charge should no agreement be reached.<ref name=letter>{{cite web| url=http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/node/23683| title=An open letter to Londoners on Freedom Pass| publisher=[[London Councils]]| date=9 May 2007| access-date=31 December 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228070008/https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/node/23683| archive-date=28 February 2019| url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=mayor>{{cite press release|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=12211 |title=Londoners join fight to defend the Freedom Pass |publisher=[[Greater London Authority]] |author=Mayor of London |author-link=Mayor of London |date=5 May 2007 |access-date=31 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807201256/http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=12211 |archive-date=7 August 2007 }}</ref>