Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that disabled people will be entitled to free bus travel 24/7 from April next year
Olivia Beeson UK & World News Reporter
01:34, 18 Aug 2026
The bus pass change will come into play next April
Andy Burnham has unveiled a landmark free bus pass scheme, granting disabled people unrestricted travel around the clock.
Time restrictions on disabled bus passes will be lifted from April next year, in the Prime Minister’s latest initiative to alleviate cost-of-living pressures.
At present, disabled bus passes are only valid for weekday travel between 9.30am and 11pm, unless local authorities choose to fund an extension, as Greater Manchester did earlier this year under Andy Burnham’s mayoralty.
Andy Burnham made the change in Greater Manchester last year (Image: 2026 WPA Pool)
The new measures will see these time constraints scrapped across all areas of England.
The £60 million required to finance the scheme has been drawn from existing budgets — with £40 million sourced from the Department for Work and Pensions and £20 million from the Department for Transport.
Since taking office as Prime Minister, Burnham has announced a series of measures aimed at tackling the ever-increasing cost of living.
These have included reducing business rates for pubs, capping bus fares at £2, and abolishing VAT on electricity bills.
Burnham said: “Buses are a lifeline for so many people – making it easier to get to work, education and healthcare.
“It’s simply not right that many disabled people cannot travel using their pass during certain times of the day. So we’re fixing that. Disabled people will now have unlimited free bus travel 24/7.
“I did it before in Greater Manchester and I’m proud to do it now for the whole country. This is part of our ongoing action to bring back hope and give people some much-needed breathing space on the cost of living.”
Liberal Democrat Tom Gordon, who has championed this cause for nearly two years, welcomed the decision.
The MP commented: “Disabilities don’t start at 9 o’clock, neither should disabled bus passes and soon enough they won’t. This is a huge win for the disabled community.”
MPs initially rejected the proposal to lift the time restrictions last year.
A Conservative Party spokesman responded: “This is simply the shuffling around of existing departmental budgets.
“Andy Burnham needs to come clean about how he is going to fund this growing list of policies.”