Disabled People to Get Free 24-Hour Bus Travel
Andrew Burnham announced that time limits on disabled people’s concessionary bus passes in England will be lifted, giving free travel around the clock from April 2027. The passes are currently valid only between 9.30am and 11pm on weekdays unless councils pay to extend them. The government said the £60m scheme, funded from existing budgets, would help disabled people reach work, education and healthcare.
The measure is modest in cost but pointed in politics, the government’s clearest cost-of-living gesture of the day and one aimed at a group that has felt the squeeze of both inflation and welfare uncertainty. Lifting the time restriction removes a daily obstacle, since off-peak-only passes can bar disabled people from early shifts, evening work and hospital appointments alike. Critics will note the money comes from within existing departmental budgets rather than new funding, and that £60m spread across the country is thin. Supporters will call it a practical step that improves lives at once. Watch whether councils that already top up the passes redirect the saving, and how the change beds in before April 2027.