Skip to start of page content |
Skip to main navigation |
Home |
Accessibility |
Contact Us |
Low Text Version |
Site Map |
View Graphic Version |
SIGHT - Blind or Partially Sighted - If you wish to apply for a bus pass you will need:
A copy of the ‘BD8' or ‘CVI' certification form issued to you by the local hospital. If you have lost your copy of the ‘BD8' or ‘CVI' form, you may be able to get a copy from your local Social Services office or from the hospital, which issued it in the first place.
If you are not on the local authority register, you will require evidence from an eye specialist, for example an optometrist, that you would qualify to be registered as severely sight impaired (blind) or sight impaired (partially sighted). Advice on how to register can be found on the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) website
HEARING - Profoundly or Severely Deaf - If you wish to apply for a bus pass you will need:
Confirmation in writing from Social Services that you are included on their Deaf Register, or
A letter or report from an aural specialist confirming that hearing loss has been recorded at 70 dBHL or worse.
SPEECH - Without Speech - If you wish to apply for a bus pass you will need:
A brief letter or report confirming your condition from an independent medical specialist that you would be unable to make clear basic spoken requests - in any spoken language - such as asking for a particular fare or checking bus routes with the driver.
An inability to speak English or speech, which is excessively slow or distorted due to a heavy accent or a severe stammer would not qualify.
LEARNING - Learning Disability; that is a state of arrested development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning - If you wish to apply for a bus pass you will need:
Confirmation in writing from Social Services that you are included on their database as a person who receives - or who has in the past received - services for those with a learning disability, for example you may be attending a Day Centre for persons with a Learning Disability, or
A brief letter or report confirming your condition from an independent medical specialist
NOTE: This disability must have started before adulthood and have a lasting effect on development and should not be confused with mental illness.
ARMS - Loss of the use of both arms - If you wish to apply for a bus pass you will need:
A brief letter or report confirming your condition from an independent medical specialist.
You could through accident, injury deformity or other reason, be without both arms. If this is the case no further supporting evidence will be required if you are applying in person at your council offices.
This category includes people with a limb reduction deficiency of both arms; bilateral upper limb amputation; muscular dystrophy; spinal cord injury; motor neurone disease; or a condition of comparable severity. It also covers people with deformity of both arms, if they are unable to use them to carry out day-to-day tasks, for example, paying coins into a fare machine.
WALKING - Have a disability or have suffered an injury which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on your ability to walk - If you wish to apply for a bus pass you will need:
Documentary evidence that you are currently in receipt of Disabled Living Allowance (DLA) mobility component at the Higher Rate or the War Pensioners mobility supplement OR
A valid “Blue Badge” OR
A brief letter or report detailing your condition and the effect on your mobility from an independent medical specialist.
DRIVING - Been refused grant of a driving licence to drive a motor vehicle under part III of the Road Traffice Act 1988, or would be refused pursuant to section 92 of the Act (physical fitness), otherwise than on the ground of persistence misuse of drugs or alcohol. If you wish to apply for a bus pass you will need:
A letter from the DVLA refusing to accept your application for a driving licence because you are not deemed by them to be physically fit to drive, OR
Confirmation from an independent medical specialist that you suffer from one of the conditions mentioned below and that it is sufficiently serious to prevent you from obtaining a driving licence:
Under Section 92 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 the Secretary of State may refuse to issue a driving licence on the grounds of the applicant's medical fitness. Those who are currently barred from holding a licence are people with:
i. epilepsy (unless it is of a type which does not pose a danger - see below);
ii. severe mental disorder;
iii liability to sudden attacks of giddiness or fainting (whether as a result of cardiac disorder or otherwise);
iv. inability to read a registration plate in good light at 20.5 metres (with lenses if worn);
v. other disabilities which are likely to cause the driving of vehicles by them to be a source of danger to the public.
EPILEPSY. The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 permit the grant of a driving licence to a person with epilepsy if that person:
(a) has not had an epileptic attack whilst awake for a year or more; or
(b) has a history of attacks whilst asleep, and only whilst asleep, over the past three years or more, provided that the driving of a vehicle by that person is not likely to cause danger to the public.
People with a cardiac, locomotor, renal or neurological disorder might qualify. Where there is doubt about whether someone would be refused a driving licence, we require independent medical advice.
NOTE - Anyone who has been refused a driving licence through a persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol does not qualify for a travel pass.
