Warwickshire County Council is to trial free bus travel for passengers accompanying people with certain disabilities from January 2024.

Free travel for those with sight, hearing and speech problems, disabilities that affect someone's long-term ability to walk, learning difficulties and medical conditions that prevent someone from driving is funded via the overall pot of funding that government gives to councils. 

Anything on top of that, including free passes for companions, is discretionary and has to be funded out of council budgets but a county council review showed that nearly three quarters of respondents supported the idea.

Work on how it would come together, including reviewing data from councils that already offer companion passes, has been completed with the authority sanctioning a temporary scheme until the end of March 2025 – the end of the next financial year. 

It is acknowledged that rough cost estimates of £100,000 per year would depend on take-up but the council expects to be able to cover it through existing funding with anywhere between 1,500 and 2,500 disabled people benefiting.

The council was criticised by member of the public Richard Waller, someone who had spoken at previous cabinet meetings to champion this cause, over it taking so long to roll out but Cllr Jan Matecki, the county's portfolio holder for transport and planning, said that time should be taken to ensure nothing goes wrong. 

"We not only need to get the software sorted but the cards as well, and make sure that the cards are working. We also need the agreement of the bus companies for this to take place, all of this takes time," he said. 

"We don't want to put in a timeframe that we cannot achieve, we have to make sure this programme can be delivered which is why this is starting from January 1. 

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"I fully sympathise with what Mr Waller is saying, I would love to introduce it earlier but we really couldn't because work has to be done in the background to deliver this."

Decisions on the scheme beyond March 2025 will be taken when the actual costs for Warwickshire are known and in line with what funding is available from that point. 

Companion passes will be available to disabled pass holders aged 11 or older who are registered blind or severely sight impaired, need to be accompanied or supervised at all times due to their disability or physically unable to get on or off a bus without assistance.

The council proposes to gauge eligibility based on the applicant's access to disability benefits.