No council tax rebate but prospect of free bus travel

Groups representing the elderly criticised what they claimed was an "Ebenezer Scrooge budget" for Britain's 11 million pensioners, at a time of fast-rising energy and council tax bills.

They said Gordon Brown's decision not to repeat last year's £200 council tax rebate for pensioner households, combined with the freeze in the winter fuel payment, meant the average pensioner would be at least £265 worse off this year.

The chancellor did offer free national bus travel for pensioners, along with additional help insulating their homes. These measures failed to impress organisations such as Age Concern, which described yesterday's statement as "a terrible tenth budget for today's and tomorrow's pensioners". Help the Aged said the failure to provide extra help for pensioners was "a disgrace," and the National Pensioners Convention said older people "are quite clearly Gordon Brown's forgotten generation in this budget".

One high-profile measure in last year's budget was the £800m he allocated to deduct £200 from pensioners' council tax bills. Hopes that he would repeat his generosity this year proved unfounded.

Mervyn Kohler, head of public affairs at Help the Aged, said: "Our country's older people are already battered by fuel price rises and growing bills for council tax and water, but the government which found a pre-election bribe for older pensioners last year cannot renew it for 2006. This exposes a shameful level of political expediency."

The chancellor said older people will be eligible for free bus travel outside their home areas under a £250m extension of concessionary travel. He intends to tie together local authority schemes across England so that over-60s and disabled people will be able to hop on local buses anywhere from Penzance to Berwick-upon-Tweed.

A scheme in last year's budget required all English councils to provide free services from this year - but only to local residents. Mr Brown said flexible nationwide coverage, available irrespective of people's home addresses, would be introduced in April 2008, but only on routes with stops spaced less than 15 miles apart. Pensioners will be required to pay on long-distance coaches.

The winter fuel payments stay at £200 a year for over-60s and £300 for over-80s. As previously announced, the basic state pension for a single person will rise by £2.20 to £84.25 a week from April, with that for married couples rising to £134.75.