Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Joins Call to End Disabled Bus Pass Postcode Lottery

Vikki Slade, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, has joined Whizz Kidz, the UK’s leading charity for young wheelchair users, at a parliamentary event calling for urgent reform of disabled bus pass legislation in England.

Under current rules, disabled people are only guaranteed free bus travel between 9:30am and 11pm. While some Travel Concession Authorities extend these hours, many do not, creating a postcode lottery that prevents disabled people from accessing work, education, healthcare and community life on equal terms.

New findings from Whizz Kidz’s Beyond Fare report, based on Freedom of Information requests to Travel Concession Authorities, highlight the scale of the problem:

• 60 out of 82 TCAs in England impose time restrictions on disabled bus passes
• Only around one in four offer free travel at all times
• In 2022/23, disabled people made an estimated 200 million journeys using disabled bus passes, with many forced to pay peak fares to reach jobs, hospital appointments or education

Speaking at the event, Vikki Slade MP said:

“Disabled people should not face barriers simply because of where they live. In Dorset, constituents tell me how these restrictions make it harder to get to work, education or medical appointments, often forcing difficult and expensive choices. A system that allows free travel in some areas, but not others – and at some times, but not others - is fundamentally unfair. We need national consistency so disabled people can travel with dignity and independence.”

Sarah Pugh, CEO of Whizz Kidz, said:

“Young wheelchair users shouldn’t have to plan their lives around a bus timetable. Right now, too many are stuck paying peak fares just to get to school, college, or hospital appointments. Wales and Scotland already give disabled people the freedom to travel anytime—England must stop holding young people back. That is why Whizz Kidz is urging MPs to back legislative change to guarantee free bus travel for disabled people at all times, ending the postcode lottery once and for all. Free travel at all times isn’t a luxury, it’s the key to independence.”

Vikki Slade has consistently raised this issue in Parliament and supported an amendment tabled by Liberal Democrat colleague Tom Gordon MP (Harrogate and Knaresborough) to remove the start-time restriction on disabled bus passes. She has also highlighted the unfairness faced by disabled people who rely on public transport rather than driving.

As she told Parliament:

“A disabled driver can use their blue badge at any time of the day, but somebody who is not able to drive is restricted to being able to use their bus pass only after 9.30 am. That seems to be a simple loophole in the system, making it unfair for people who do not have the option to drive. We have an opportunity to make a tiny change that would make a massive difference.”

For many families, paying peak fares is unaffordable, leaving parents reliant on council-funded transport which adds pressure to already stretched local authority budgets.