Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of widening the accessibility criteria for the English national concessionary travel scheme to include peak travel for disabled bus pass holders to help ensure that they can reach (a) work and (b) educational commitments.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six. Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the times at which concessionary passes can be used.

The Department publishes statistics on concessionary travel annually on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/concessionary-travel-statistics-year-ending-march-2024/concessionary-travel-statistics-year-ending-march-2024. For the year ending March 2025, 83 out of 85 Travel Concessionary Authorities are offering some form of enhanced discretionary concession in addition to meeting the statutory requirements under the ENCTS.