Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that time restrictions on disabled bus passes will be lifted across England from April next year. The change, part of efforts to ease cost-of-living pressures, will allow disabled people to travel for free at any time of day.
Current restrictions and funding
At present, disabled bus passes are only valid for weekday travel between 9.30am and 11pm, unless local authorities fund an extension. Greater Manchester introduced such an extension earlier this year when Burnham served as mayor.
The £60 million required to finance the initiative has been drawn from existing budgets, with £40 million from the Department for Work and Pensions and £20 million from the Department for Transport.
Prime Minister's statement
Burnham said: "Buses are a lifeline for so many people - making it easier to get to work, education and healthcare. It's simply not right that many disabled people cannot travel using their pass during certain times of the day. So we're fixing that. Disabled people will now have unlimited free bus travel 24/7. I did it before in Greater Manchester and I'm proud to do it now for the whole country. This is part of our ongoing action to bring back hope and give people some much-needed breathing space on the cost of living."
Reactions and context
Liberal Democrat Tom Gordon, who has campaigned for the change for nearly two years, welcomed the announcement. The MP said: "Disabilities don't start at 9 o'clock, neither should disabled bus passes and soon enough they won't. This is a huge win for the disabled community."
The bid to scrap the time restrictions was initially voted down by MPs last year.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: "This is simply the shuffling around of existing departmental budgets. Andy Burnham needs to come clean about how he is going to fund this growing list of policies."
