The Regional Campaigns Officer for the West Midlands has been working with Action for Blind People in Stoke on Trent to challenge Stoke on Trent City council's decision to remove free travel before 9.30am for concessionary pass holders in the city.
Many blind and partially sighted people in Stoke on Trent rely on this element of the concessionary pass to live their lives independently.
Free travel before 9.30am means that many people can use their bus passes to get to their places of employment, to carry out their roles as volunteers, to access shopping and leisure facilities and attend doctor and hospital appointments. If this proposal were to go ahead it would hit a lot of people who are unable to walk, cycle or drive to these.
In the light of current government cuts to benefits and services for disabled people, we feel it is unjust to place another barrier to accessing employment and training that blind and partially sighted people in Stoke on Trent didn't have before.
Staffordshire County Council currently provide 24/7 free travel for concessionary pass holders and have no plans to change this. Pass holders in Stoke on Trent are now at a significant disadvantage to those in the rest of Staffordshire County.
For more information please contact Rebecca Swift on
rswift@rnib.org.uk or 0121 665 4260.