Newham Council has apologised and promised a comprehensive overhaul of its approach to granting local residents the Freedom Pass – the London-wide free travel card for older people.

By Aidan White

A london bus — Photo: Joaquin Carfagna/Pexels

The Council was sharply criticised in an Ombudsman investigation after a complaint by a disabled resident and now says it will review more than 200 applications for freedom passes it previously rejected.

In a scathing report into the complaint the local government and social care ombudsman exposed “flaws” in the Council’s approach – it had no specific policy for making decisions on freedom pass applications and did not follow guidance when carrying out assessments.

The Council fully accepted the report. It apologised to the man and paid him £400 to compensate for the uncertainty and avoidable frustration they caused him when he was turned down for a Freedom Pass while awaiting a hip replacement.

Now the Council will produce a new policy in line with Department for Transport guidance and will use the new policy to review the 238 Freedom Pass applications it refused in the 2022-23 financial year and others refused in recent years.

Ombudsman Paul Najsarek said: “We expect councils to follow guidance unless they have a valid reason not to. In this case, the Council’s assessment process lacked transparency and officers did not consider whether it was necessary to offer the man an independent medical assessment before deciding his application.

“We also found the Council did not deal with the man’s application or appeal in a timely fashion.

“I am pleased the council quickly accepted fault in this case, and has agreed to revisit the cases of other people who may have been affected by its lack of proper policy. By putting a new policy in place, the council should prevent this situation happening to other people.”

The Council said it “apologises unreservedly” for how the case was managed and accepted the findings of the ombudsman’s report. Councillor Neil Wilson, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: “I am so sorry for the situation that the complainant faced.”

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