Eligibility
Greater London residents who turned 60 before 6 April 2010 are eligible for a pass. From then the qualifying age increases in a graduated way, until it becomes 66 by 6 October 2020, although the 2011 government spending review proposes speeding the process to be fully implemented by 2018.
Disabled residents under 60 are assessed to determine whether their degree of disability requires a pass. In early 2010 the responsibility for judging the degree of disability passed to local councils, and there were complaints of people who had been assessed as needing a pass for many years not having their passes renewed although their condition had not improved.
The Freedom Pass webpage links to pages with information on the "national scheme statutory disabled pass" which list the seven main categories of disability set out by the Transport Act 2000 to assess eligibility for a Freedom Pass, and the "London-only discretionary disabled pass" which may be issued by local councils at their discretion in exceptional circumstances to disabled people who do not meet the criteria.
According to section 146 of the Act "disabled person" means a person 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 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, or
- would, if he applied for, have his application refused otherwise than on the ground of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol
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