* Independent report DPTAC POSITION ON THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR CONCESSIONARY BUS TRAVEL Published 17 August 2022 CONTENTS * Introduction * Legal background * Current eligibility

criteria * Issues * Non-visible disabilities * Opportunities * DPTAC recommendations for review Print this page © Crown copyright 2022 This publication is licensed under the terms of the

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INTRODUCTION ‘Bus Back Better’ the National Bus Strategy published in March 2021 included a commitment to review eligibility for the concessionary bus pass for disabled people. DPTAC

believes that this is an important opportunity to bring these criteria in line with current understanding of disability. To prepare for the review DPTAC has discussed the changes which we

would like to see and prepared this position paper setting these out. This position paper sits alongside similar work we have been doing to widen eligibility for the Disabled Person’s

Railcard. LEGAL BACKGROUND A mandatory bus concession scheme for older and disabled people has been in place since 2001. It has been gradually extended and since April 2008. Under the

English National Concessionary Travel Scheme, bus passengers aged over female state pension age, or with a disability, have been entitled to travel free of charge on any off-peak local

service in England. The scheme is enshrined in primary legislation through the ‘Greater London Authority Act 1999’ and the ‘Transport Act 2000’ (as modified by the ‘Concessionary Bus Travel

Act 2007’). Local Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs) are responsible for administering the scheme. Since April 2011, county councils, unitary authorities, passenger transport executives

and London boroughs have held TCA responsibility and, therefore, responsibility for running the schemes. Additional to the mandatory bus concession, they are able to make use of powers

provided by the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and the Transport Act 1985 to offer discretionary concessionary travel schemes. An example of a discretionary concessionary travel scheme is

that if you live in London, you can travel free on buses, tubes and other transport when you’re 60, but only within London. CURRENT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA There are currently 7 categories of

disabled people entitled to the statutory minimum concession and these are set out in section 146 of the Transport Act 2000 and section 240(5) of the Greater London authority act (in

relation to London). Currently an eligible disabled person is someone who: * is blind or partially sighted * is profoundly or severely deaf * is without speech * has a disability, or has

suffered an injury, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to walk * does not have arms or has long-term loss of the use of both arms * has a learning

disability, that is, a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning * would, if he or she applied for the

grant of a licence to drive a motor vehicle under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988, have his or her application refused pursuant to section 92 of the Act (physical fitness) otherwise

than on the ground of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol 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. OPPORTUNITIES Unless you are visually impaired most, if not all, bus pass concession schemes permit only off-peak travel. They are not

specifically designed to encourage commuting travel to and from work. However, lower employment rates for disabled people remain a significant problem with transport constituting an

important barrier to employment. An opportunity exists, therefore, to review whether the current bus pass scheme could be developed to encourage and facilitate travel to/from work by

disabled people. The guidance from the Department for Transport (DfT) to local TCAs concerning the evidence they might ask for from disabled person bus pass applicants is brief. TCAs vary in

their requirements for proof of eligibility and there is an opportunity for DfT to provide a more comprehensive list of suggested proof of eligibility to TCAs that would ensure greater

equality of access to bus passes across the country. DPTAC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REVIEW 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 The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory

Committee (DPTAC) August 2022 Back to top