Ottergirl,
Many feel that this takes away their rights to legal redress in respect of whether the removal of staff travel constitutes penalising staff for taking part in a legal strike; the case for which is already in progress.
Be careful what you wish for!
If the 'perk' of staff travel becomes a legal, contractural right, as many are saying it is or it should be, then it becomes a taxable asset. As a concession it doesn't have to be declared thus doesn't attract a benefit tax.
Consider the taxation levied on a company car that is offered as a contractural addition. It forms part of your tax return as it is considered a 'slice' of your income not required to be spent on running your own vehicle.
If a similar HMRC view were to be taken with staff travel you would continue to be offered the ID90/ID100 tickets however they would be declareable at their full face value. Thus you would be required to pay 20-40% tax on the total ticket sum at the end of the financial year.
Quite alot if you have a family of four travelling club to Sydney for example.
BASSA could be holding a very big gun to their heads with this one.