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I've been researching through the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) website, and I’m quite disappointed to see multiple cases where the London Borough Councils have been incompetent in issuing Freedom Passes to the disabled people.
Just to clarify that I am not an expert in this issue, and the purpose is to show my research into my article and comment about it.
Here’s one case I found:
London Borough of Croydon (22 015 720)
Decision: Not upheld
Decision date: 17 Aug 2023
Summary: Mrs D complains about the Council’s decision not to award her daughter a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass and its delay in dealing with her application. We found no fault.
The complaint
1. Mrs D complains about the Council’s decision not to award her daughter, Miss F, a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass and its delay in dealing with her application.
2. Mrs D says as a result her daughter’s ability to travel and develop her independence has been adversely affected.
What happened
15. Miss F has autism, mild learning disability, ADHD and anxiety. She has recurrent depressive episodes and is under the care of mental health services. Miss F has an education, health and care plan and has been attending a specialist college since September 2019. The Council provides transport for her to college.
16. Mrs D says that Miss F previously automatically qualified for a Freedom Pass as she had received the higher rate mobility component of DLA when she was under 16. She also had a blue badge. After she turned 16, in November 2021 Miss F was awarded zero in the PIP moving around component.
20. The letter also noted that Miss F had been awarded a blue badge as it had sufficient evidence that she was at risk to herself or others whilst walking. The Council said Miss F could apply for a 16+ zip Oyster card whilst she was in full time education.
My findings
23. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body and it is not our role to decide whether Miss F is eligible for a Freedom Pass. My role is to consider whether there was any administrative fault in the way the Council has made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, I cannot question the outcome, no matter how much Mrs D or Miss F disagree.
Here’s another where Newham Council unlawfully removed the Freedom Pass concession for a person who has hearing loss and had to reapply.
London Borough of Newham (21 017 578)
Decision: Upheld
Decision date: 12 Jul 2022
Summary: Mr C complains the Council’s decision to refuse his application for a Freedom Pass is wrong. The Council is at fault for failing to have a written policy about how it assesses people with hearing loss for a Freedom Pass. It is also at fault for failing to provide Mr C proper reasons about why it rejected his application. The Council has agreed to reconsider Mr C’s application and pay him £150 for his time and trouble. The Council has also agreed to have a written policy which people can refer to about its eligibility criteria.
The complaint
1. The complainant who I call Mr C, complains the Council has inappropriately rejected his application for a Freedom Pass on the basis he is no longer eligible. Mr C complains he has had a Freedom Pass since 2014 and his hearing loss has not improved. He complains the method used by the Council to assess hearing loss for a Freedom Pass is unfair, discriminatory and breaches the Equality Act 2010. He also does not understand how the Council can withdraw the Freedom Pass after he has had it for over eight years.
2. Because of the Council’s refusal Mr C says he has reduced the public transport he uses and has financial loss as he has had to pay for public transport since March 2021.
Final decision
26. I have found fault with the Council’s actions which have caused Mr C injustice. I consider the agreed actions above are suitable to remedy the complaint. I have now completed my investigation and closed the complaint.
You can read more cases, which mentions the councils refusing to issue a Blue Badge (disabled parking permit) in some cases.
During September 2023, the LGO requested the London Borough of Newham to review hundreds of rejected Freedom Pass applications.
It’s disappointing to see that different London Borough councils have been incompetent in issuing Freedom Passes to the disabled people, and in some cases, the LGO haven’t been upholding the cases by the compliments.
I’m aware when the London Borough of Barnet Council outsourced their services to a private company during the 2010s, which allowed the outsourced services to unlawfully cancel Freedom Passes to people with mental health and hidden disabilities.
Text from article by World Socialist Web Site
The mentally ill have been hard hit. The council outsourced its services to private company Capita, and in 2016 allowed it to cancel Freedom Passes—allowing free transport—for adults with mental health issues and other disabilities like autism, without giving any notice. It meant many of the most vulnerable only found out the next time they tried to take public transport. Others had their passes cancelled as a result of a reassessment, despite there being no change in their condition.
This has led to a case where one young woman with autism who unlawfully had her Freedom Pass cancelled by Barnet Council in 2016, along with many other disabled people. After the press attention which questioned the management of the council at the high level such as Monitoring Officer to take action about the legality of the mass cancellation of Freedom Passes. Thankfully, nearly all of the disabled people that are resident in the borough to have their Freedom Passes reinstated (whilst some left Barnet or did not need them), and the the action did prompt a legal challenge.
You can read more about the issue from the Barnet Eye blog and the Broken Barnet blog.
Going back to 2019, the UK Government (under the Conservative administration) changed the eligibility criteria for the Blue Badges to include people with hidden disabilities.
People with hidden disabilities can access Blue Badges for the first time from today
Expanded eligibility and simplified application process for Blue Badges
Published 30 August 2019
People with hidden disabilities, including anxiety disorders or a brain injury, can apply for a Blue Badge for the first time from today (30 August 2019).
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:
"We know that for some people, the possibility of not being able to find a parking space can make even leaving the house a challenge, which is why the Blue Badge is so important."
"The scheme, which is already a lifeline for so many disabled people, will make a huge difference to those with non-visible conditions such as autism, dementia, Parkinson’s and arthritis. It is my sincere wish that these changes will improve even more people’s lives."
Then in 2020, a London Assembly Member questioned the Mayor of London on working with London Councils to expand the Freedom Pass eligibility criteria for people with hidden disabilities.
Reference: 2020/2623
Question by: Caroline Russell
Disabled persons Freedom Pass eligibility
Are you working with London Councils to expand the Freedom Pass eligibility criteria to include those with hidden disabilities such as autism?
Answer by the Mayor Sadiq Khan
Date: Friday 25 September 2020
The eligibility criteria for the scheme are set out in chapter VIII of the GLA Act 1999. They are supplemented by Department for Transport guidance on assessing eligibility for concessionary travel. There is currently no work being undertaken to expand these criteria as they are set out in statute and guidance made elsewhere. Nevertheless, some people with hidden disabilities such as autism may already qualify for the scheme. As there are many types of disabilities, eligibility is determined by the London boroughs on a case-by-case basis against existing criteria.
Then in 2023, when TfL proposed to withdraw the One Day Travelcards (which thankfully were saved), the Equality Impact Assessment mentioned the eligibility criteria for a Disabled Persons’ Freedom Pass.
MD3142 Withdrawal of Day Travelcards on TfL Network - Equality Impact Assessment
Data and evidence to support your assessment (Record here the data you have gathered about the diversity of the people potentially impacted by this work. Please include any research on the issues affecting inclusion in relation to your work).
The eligibility criteria for a Disabled Persons’ Freedom Pass is different to the criteria to qualify as disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010, with the former being stricter than the latter – meaning that some people who meet the definition of disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 may not be eligible for a Disabled Persons’ Freedom Pass
Comments and actions to mitigate or take forward (please include actions to mitigate the potential negative impact for this protected characteristic)
The specific extent to which disabled people use Day Travelcards is not known. In 2019/20, seventeen per cent of disabled Londoner’s held a Disabled Persons’ Freedom Pass, which provides free travel at all times within London. However, not all Londoners who are disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 will qualify for a Disabled Persons’ Freedom Pass, because the eligibility criteria for that pass is stricter. In 2016/17, 45 per cent of Londoners who are disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 held an Older Persons’ Freedom Pass, which provides free off-peak travel on the TfL network and most National Rail services.
There will, however, be significant numbers of Londoners aged below 60 (and do not qualify for free travel through age) who are disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010 but do not qualify for a Disabled Persons’ Freedom Pass, and who will therefore have to pay for their travel. In addition, disabled people living outside London have to pay for their travel within London (unless they are travelling on the bus with a Disabled Person’s Bus Pass under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme). However, both may be eligible for a Disabled Persons’ Railcard, which currently provides one third discount off Day Travelcards for the disabled person holding the card and a companion.
The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) Independent Report on the ‘position on the eligibility criteria for concessionary bus travel’ has suggested updating the eligibility criteria to include people with hidden disabilities.
Published 17 August 2022
Issues
The range of disabilities currently entitled to the statutory minimum bus concessions has not kept pace with the much-improved understanding of disability now available. In particular, the current eligibility criteria do not generally include people with non-visible disabilities.
Changes to the eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payment and the national Blue Badge scheme introduced in recent years have both given greater recognition to non-visible disabilities and how they can impact on mobility. This means that benefits which have in the past been used to authorise entitlement to a bus pass can now consider factors which do not entitle someone to a bus pass.
In addition to the obvious anomalies and potential injustices which this creates it also means the ‘passporting’ approach where eligibility for one benefit creates an automatic entitlement to another has to be applied with caution when deciding whether to issue an individual with a bus pass.
There is an evident need to review and update the eligibility criteria to ensure they reflect the full range of conditions experienced by disabled people, as well as ensuring that qualifying criteria are focused on those most in need of assistance.
Non-visible disabilities
There is a wide range of disabilities not necessarily ‘visible’ to other people.
DPTAC has created the following list after careful thought and consultation. While it is not exhaustive, we believe it broadly covers the main range of non-visible disabilities.
Non-visible disabilities may include:
• mental health conditions, for example, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, personality disorders
• autism and Asperger syndrome
• sensory processing difficulties
• cognitive impairment, for example, dementia, traumatic brain injury, learning disabilities
• ‘non-visible’ physical health conditions, for example, chronic pain, respiratory conditions, diabetes, incontinence
• hearing loss
• low or restricted vision
DPTAC believes it is important to emphasise that there is no strict delineation between visible and non-visible disabilities and to remember that sometimes people experience a combination of both, for example, a person in a wheelchair may also have a mental health condition.
It is easy to see how people with hearing loss and/or low or restricted vision can fit into the current bus concession criteria, but unless the disabled person happens to have an inability to walk or drive, it is more difficult to see how the other non-visible disabilities might fit in with the current bus concession criteria.
For example, someone who has autism, but does not also have a significant learning disability, may well find it difficult to travel through anxiety and/or sensory difficulties, but they would be unlikely to be awarded a bus pass.
The same goes for people with mental health conditions, however severe they are. Without significant impairment of intelligence, they too would appear to be currently ineligible for concessionary travel. This would also be true for some people with non-visible physical health conditions, for example, chronic pain.
DPTAC recommends a review of:
• the current eligibility criteria for a disabled person’s bus pass, founded in primary legislation, with a specific aim of more equitably including people with non-visible disabilities
• the times that people with disabilities can use their bus pass to travel
• the recommended qualifying criteria for each type of disability, including severity levels
• how the scheme applies to essential companions
During the 2024 London Mayoral Election, which was held in May, the Disability Policy Centre published their report advocating for a standardised discretionary Freedom Pass criteria for all London Boroughs.
How to Make London an Accessible City For All: Report by the Disability Policy Centre
Our next topic was on Transport, and our Lead Panellist was Kush Kanodia, the social entrepreneur and campaigner. [...] He also spoke about Disabled Persons Freedom Passes, and how there is again, no consistency across Boroughs; some London Boroughs offer ‘discretionary passes’ and others do not. It is positive that the Freedom Passes are able to be used across TfL services, as making transport more accessible can help close the Disability Employment Gap. However, these passes do not work on National Rail during peak hours - preventing people from using them if they are in ‘9-5’ jobs.
Recommendations
9) The Mayor of London should work with National Rail, and his counterparts across the United Kingdom, to ensure that Disabled Person’s Freedom Passes can be used across services, and not just those under Transport for London’s remit. A disabled person using the tube or bus to get to work, before 9.30am, can use their Freedom Pass in London, however someone who needs to take the train does not always have the same freedom. In that note, ‘Discretionary Freedom Passes’ should be standardised across all London Boroughs, as well as parking policies for Blue Badge Holders.
Then during the UK General Election, which was held in July 2024. Transport for All published their manifesto recommending that the transport concessions be improved, which raised the issue that the current system is a postcode lottery.
The For All Manifesto – Transport for All
Fairer concessions
All disabled people should have access to the concessions, grants, and mobility aids we need to make journeys. The current system is effectively a postcode lottery, with narrow eligibility criteria and arbitrary regional disparities that excludes thousands of people from vital support. This must be replaced with a standardised, joined up approach between regions, and a fairer application process.
Disabled people face considerable financial barriers to transport. We are already disadvantaged, facing an average £975 more in living costs each month than a non-disabled person , and are twice as likely to be unemployed . Having to navigate access barriers on top of this comes with a hefty price tag, and one that disabled people are increasingly unable to pay.
To this end, we ask that candidates advocate for the following within their own constituencies, and support the introduction and implementation of these measures at a national level:
→ Work with local authorities and the national government to take a social model approach to concession criteria, assessing eligibility based on barriers faced, rather than specific health criteria or benefits;
→ Support councils to review the concessionary schemes within your constituency and implement the full range of enhancements to the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme.
→ Work with Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to understand and co-produce solutions to the current barriers and pitfalls with concessionary schemes, including the application process, appeal process, knowledge of assessors, and support the changes needed to address these.
This must lead to:
→ No disabled people being excluded by the flawed link between concessions and inappropriate criteria such as PIP entitlement
→ A consistent approach across to concessionary transport across England
→ Simplified and accessible ways to make an application, with previously excluded disabled people taking up the schemes
→ A reduction in regional disparities in access and criteria for mobility aid provision
→ Increased number of disabled people eligible for vital and wide-ranging financial assistance
→ Disabled people no longer being financially disadvantaged by the direct and indirect costs of travel
I believe that the current statute (both the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and the Transport Act 2000) and guidance for the eligibility criteria for the Freedom Pass and free travel concession should be updated in line with the recommendations by the DPTAC, Disability Policy Centre, Transport for All, and other Disabled People’s Organisations that I may have missed out on.
The statutes that state the statutory minimum eligibility criteria may need updating with a change to the relevant legislation in Parliament.
The applications for a new Freedom Pass or a transport concession should be simplified along with updating the eligibility criteria to include people with hidden disabilities.
I do point out that in West Yorkshire, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority has taken over the responsibility for the disabled person's travel pass applications from the local authorities since 1st October 2024.
It is important that the councils not be incompetent and provide adequate public services in accordance with their Public Sector Equality Duty and relevant code of conduct and standards by the Local Government Association. They shouldn’t be cutting corners to try and make financial savings to increase their reserves because it may cause impacts for the people who depend on these services, such as providing free travel concession passes.
According to the Equality Act 2010, they have a Public Sector Equality Duty, according to the UK Government’s guidance, it says:
The general duty requires public authorities, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to:
• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other unlawful conduct prohibited by the act
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share and people who do not share a relevant protected characteristic
• foster good relations between people who share and people who do not share a relevant protected characteristic
These are sometimes called the 3 aims of the duty.
Why is it important for councils to issue Freedom Passes and free concession passes to the disabled?
Reduces stress and anxiety, especially with money woes (including missing touch and inadvertently breaking the maximum journey times on PAYG Oyster and Contactless) and encounters with a revenue protection inspector; in addition, it will reduce delays and disruptions for their journey and other people’s journey.
It helps reduce car usage (in terms of driving or getting a lift from a relative or friend), as it will reduce pollution and congestion and reduce the risks of traffic accidents.
It helps build confidence and independence when using public transport to travel.
I have raised more points in my tweet below.
Benefits of a free travel concession: 🚏🚌🚇
— CLondoner92 (@CLondoner92) July 15, 2023
➡️Reduces social isolation
➡️Improves health and well-being
➡️Encourages active travel (i.e. walking, public transport)
➡️Reduces car usage (less congestion)
➡️Reduces pressure on the NHS (car accidents, etc.)
➡️Helps save money https://t.co/ZTNzvsVnhr
The London Borough Councils (including the City of London) have a duty to provide services, especially when it comes to issuing Freedom Passes, despite having no public transport responsibilities as they are provided by Transport for London (TfL), which is overseen by the Greater London Authority since 2000, whereas the London Councils (a collective of local authorities in Greater London) provide the Freedom Pass service along with the Taxicard.
My suggestion is that the concept of the administrative divisions should be reformed and restructured to simplify services, as stated in my previous article. I have also briefly covered an issue regarding when a local authority faces financial issues, including ‘bankruptcy’, and other issues where residents in Epping Forest are unable to use their free travel concession on the London Underground despite being served by the Central line and a small number of TfL bus routes.
Issues applying for Freedom Pass or free travel concession?
If you are disabled and have issues trying to obtain a Freedom Pass, a transport concession, including the ENCTS with the local authority. You can reach out to Transport for All for advice.
If you still have an ongoing complaint with the local council, you should build your case by complaining to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, as they explain how the complaints process works.
Alongside making a complaint, you should submit a subject access request to the local authority to obtain more information held about yourself or the applicant.
If you still have further issues as you are building a case (which includes keeping hold of the correspondence with the local authority and others in relation to the application), there’s a list of disability organisations and law firms on the Disability News Service website.
Inclusion London has a directory listing Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations on their website.
Lastly, you can contact your local elected representative, such as a councillor or your local Member of Parliament (MP), by using the Write To Them website, or find your local MP on the UK Parliament website.
TfL has listed other types of free and discounted travel (including the Zip Oyster and 60+ Oyster) on their website.
Anyone who is reading my article is welcome to share by posting on social media, an elected representative, etc.
Update (22 November 2024), Transport for All responded to me on X:
"What a litany of local authority errors.
If you are aware of people being turned down for freedom passes then our advice team can provide evidence for appeal, and even deal with the admin if it's distressing for people."
I invite you to follow me on X by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my X page here. I'm also on BlueSky and Mastodon.
Further reading
Fact Check: Disabled And Older People's English Bus Pass (ENCTS) Users Are Valid On London Buses
Fact Check: Wheelchair Users ♿ Get Free Travel And Priority On London Buses
Advice For Wheelchair Users In The Event of Missed Assistance (Staff With Wheelchair Ramp) At Railway Stations
Transport for London Advises Wheelchair Users To Use The Emergency Passenger Alarm In The Event Of Missed Assistance At Underground, Overground and Elizabeth Line Stations — With Detailed Procedures
I Believe TfL Should Reform The Travelcard Agreement To Offer Smart Flexible Ticketing Options
