Off the buses, and trams and Tubes: Jason Perry is now taking freedom passes away from disabled people
The consequences of the council losing its LTN case in the High Court in March, and with it millions of pounds in fine refunds and lost revenue, now sees Croydon’s failed Mayor taking travel passes from the disabled.
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports
As well as wanting to deny Council Tax Support for Croydon’s poorest families, Jason Perry now wants to withhold free travel passes from the borough’s disabled.
This is one of the latest cuts proposed by piss-poor Perry, who has added £300million in extra borrowing at the crisis-hit council since he became Mayor in 2022.
By withdrawing the offer of the travel pass, the council says it could make savings over two years of £140,000 – much less than Mayor Perry will trouser over the same period from his £86,000 annual salary.
Pressure from government-appointed Commissioners – sent in in July 2025 because of Perry’s incompetence – is seeing spending on all or any services that are not legally required being rolled back.
One opposition councillor described the cuts to disabled travel passes as “utterly outrageous”.
“It once again demonstrates a total lack of humanistic or holistic thinking when it comes to the most needy in Croydon,” said Mark Adderley, the Green Party councillor for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood..
In the case of Croydon Council’ discretionary travel pass, the cut might have been avoided had piss-poor Perry kept his mouth shut and not blabbed to a residents’ meeting that his council could not remove six LTN schemes from the borough’s streets because of the revenue they generate. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are not supposed to be used as revenue-generators by local authorities.
So when a challenge ended up in the High Court in March, a judge gave Perry a dressing down and ordered the lifting of the LTNs and refunds of all fines received by the council. That’s £7million in fine refunds for motorists, and an estimated £3million in budgeted revenue not received this financial year.
Croydon pays for all discretionary travel passes (not the statutory passes paid for by government), for older residents and disabled people, from a ring-fenced transport budget, which generates millions from parking permits and parking fees, as well as road fines. The Perry-inspired £10million hit on that budget won’t have helped make a case for continuing to offer the discretionary Disabled Persons Freedom Pass.
Existing holders of the pass will continue to be able to use the benefit. But the scheme will not be offered to new applicants.
The pass provides free London travel to social care recipients who fail to qualify for the national statutory Freedom Pass, which grants eligible disabled people free transport across England.
To qualify, residents should be aged 18 to 59 with a physical disability or severe mental illness, and supported by either council social services or the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
The measure was among several cost-cutting proposals included in Perry’s Medium Term Financial Plan for the next four years, a plan which was voted down by opposition councillors from four parties at Wednesday night’s meeting of the council – to the Mayor’s immense embarrassment.
The vote has created something of an impasse under the as-yet-unfinished council constitution. Croydon’s 42 Labour, Green, LibDem and Reform Ltd councillors lack the numbers required to amend Tory Perry’s budget or other proposals (unless at least five of the 28 Conservative councillors change the habit of a lifetime and do the right thing by voting against their party whip).
So Perry’s plans to axe the disabled person’s freedom pass seems certain to be brought forward again between now and the Council Tax-setting meetings in February. Unless, that is, the opposition groups get Perry to drop this part of his business plan as part of the price for not having it blocked again.
Council figures say that withdrawing the service for new applications is expected to save £90,000 in 2028-2029 and £50,000 in 2029-2030.
Perry is proposing to make cuts to the cash-strapped council’s budget of £83.7million over four years. That’s on top of the £229million in total budget savings made by the council since 2020, including £34million in the current financial year.
So, if you think you might qualify for the council’s discretionary disabled person’s travel pass, you probably should get your application in pdq, before Mayor Perry denies that modest benefit to you. More details about applying can be found on the council website by clicking here.
Read more: Perry looks to inflict pain for his failures on Croydon’s poor
Read more: High Court judge orders end to Croydon’s ‘unlawful’ LTNs
Read more: Council failed to include High Court LTN case on risk register
Read more: ‘Challenge remains enormous’ as Perry hikes Council Tax again
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