The Truth About The Freedom Pass
- David Taylor
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
With the debate on "leaving London" heating up, Havering is being told many different stories about the Freedom Pass. Sometimes these different stories are coming from the same person!
There are two main positions in the debate.
Andrew Rosindell, the Reform MP and his team, are claiming that the Freedom Pass is not under threat.
The Conservatives and others are claiming that the Pass would be lost if we stopped being a London Borough.
So what is the truth, and what is the proof?
The Pass Outside London
Pensioners get free public transport travel outside London, which is true, and it is what Rosindell is referring to. The Pass grants free travel on buses and is known as the English National Concessionary Bus Pass.
This pass doesn't just work where one lives. A quick look at Travel Essex's website explains that it works on TFL buses. This is because the scheme is national.
So, in this sense, Rosindell is right. Pensioners retain free travel whether we are in London or not.
BUT...
The name of the Pass gives it away. Pensioners only receive free travel on buses. NOT the entire TFL network.
TravelEssex say, in relation to TFL travel, "you cannot use your pass on the Underground, DLR or Trams.) You will not be able to use your bus pass on weekdays between 04:30 and 08:59"
So, if we were in Essex, Havering’s pensioners would lose access to the Underground, DLR, and trams. They would be limited to only travelling on Havering's buses. You know, the ones that we are told have very poor connectivity.
What Do TFL Say?
The TFL website lays out, very clearly, the conditions for their travel card, the one our pensioners receive. The Freedom Pass.
TFL say: "There are 2 main eligibility criteria's that you must meet to qualify for a Older Person's Freedom Pass "
You become eligible for an older person's Freedom Pass on the date you reach your state pension age.
You must live at a London address.
That's pretty clear. And the Freedom Pass website explains "London Address" further.
"We define a London address as being inside one of the 32 London Boroughs or the City of London."
So that's pretty clear.
And as a warning, the FreedomPass website says "If you move out of London, you are no longer eligible for a Freedom Pass."
The loss of access to TFL's network, except for buses, is a huge change to pensioners' lives. A quick 34-minute, free journey on the Elizabeth Line becomes a choice between either a long bus ride or a £6.80 fare.
And it isn't just pensioners. The Disabled Person's Freedom Pass carries the exact same conditions. If Reform get their way then Havering's disabled residents will be blocked from free travel on TFL trains!
So Where are Reform Wrong?
Reform have made a series of new, misleading or incorrect claims, in the community blog The Havering Daily.
The Freedom Pass is safe
It is false to say the Pass depends on the GLA
Havering pays for it, so can keep it
They will introduce legislation to guarantee it
Havering could negotiate with TFL to keep the same access it currently has
Just starting with these claims, Reform are already confused. They are claiming that there is no threat, it's all OK and under control, but their MP is having to fight through parliament for it. The fact he is having to campaign so hard is evidence enough that he knows that leaving London will mean pensioners take a hit.
Reform claims that saying the Freedom Pass is dependent on the Mayor of London is "a cruel attempt to frighten older people". Which is guff. What we're doing is highlighting the massive risk that Rosindell and Reform are willing to take, with our pensioners.
TFL's own website is clear, the Freedom Pass is not available to people who live outside the London Boroughs. Making it dependent on the GLA and Mayor of London.
"Havering pays for it, so can keep it". It sounds logical, but it's misleading. We pay for it because it is on offer to us. If we leave London then we don't have the choice to pay for it. That's why Reform is trying to use government to force TFL to offer the Freedom pass to everywhere TFL operates. (which, ironically, is a form of big-government control over locally elected mayors... which is what Rosindell and Reform claim to be against).
Reform's position boils down to this: the Freedom Pass is completely safe and not dependent on London, but at the same time they need to fight to save it, introduce new laws to guarantee it, and negotiate with TfL to keep access. In other words, it is supposedly secure as it is, yet also depends on future legislation, uncertain negotiations, and political campaigning to make sure it survives.
What's the phrase Rosindell's latest blog says?
"Those candidates so desperate to win their council seats on 7th May, who are pushing this lie about, should be ashamed of themselves!"
So what is the truth?
The truth is simple. The Freedom Pass, as it exists today, is tied to London. TFL’s own rules make that clear. Leave London, and you lose eligibility. Everything else being promised relies on future laws, future negotiations, and political campaigning to maybe rebuild something similar.
That is not safety. That is uncertainty.
Rosindell’s claim that Havering can become a “unitary authority” and keep the same benefits is where this really falls down. A unitary authority just means running local services. It does not mean staying inside London while opting out of London-wide governance. That model does not exist anywhere.
What he is really proposing is a system where Havering can opt in to the benefits, but not the governance. It sounds appealing, but it simply doesn’t exist. You are either part of a regional system, or you are not. There is no version where you get the benefits without being in the structure that provides them.
And to make this work, you are not just tweaking the system. You are creating a new one. Another layer of local government, another reorganisation, another set of costs. Complexity always means expense. New structures, new agreements, new administration, all paid for locally.
How many times are we going to redraw the system to fit one political idea? How often are we going to invent new models of local authority just to make a proposal work? And where does it stop?
So when I, and others, say “Proof the Freedom Pass isn’t safe”, that is exactly what it is. Not opinion, not scaremongering, but a straightforward reading of the rules and the facts.
The real question is not whether the Freedom Pass could be recreated one day. It is whether Havering should give up what it already has, based on a promise that something totally new, and offering the same, might come later.
Click below to read more on Unitary Authorities.