A NUMBER of disabled freedom pass holders have received compensation months after Barnet council withdrew their concessions without notice.

A total of 51 disabled passes who submitted claims have received financial compensation of up to £6,952, and the council has “apologised unreservedly” for causing distress to everyone affected.

At last week’s policy & resources committee in Hendon town hall on September 1, a review of the 2015 Pass renewal process read that “residents were not informed that their eligibility would be retrospectively checked when their passes were originally issued in 2015.”

It said that it recognises that the retrospective checking process resulted in 230 disabled persons' freedom passes being withdrawn from people living in Barnet without appropriate guidance being provided.

They were also not informed, at the point of issue, that their passes could be deactivated if they did not meet the eligibility criteria.

Disabled teen Jenny Fairclough of Mill Hill, said she was so disappointed, when Barnet Council refused to renew her transport card in April, which allows her to travel on buses and trains in London for free.

Jenny, who has autism, problems with her veins and painful arthritis, says she has received an apology but not compensation.

She said: “I lost my freedom pass and a lot of other people did too, meaning we lost our independence.

“I like to go out a lot, but they took that away, and I don’t know how they can do that to a person. I did receive an apology and they said it would not happen again.”

Barnet’s Labour party launched an online petition to reinstate freedom passes, after the council cancelled freedom passes without any notice.

Leader of the Barnet Labour Group, Cllr Barry Rawlings said the Labour believe Barnet Council should introduce a local discretionary pass for those people in need.

He said: “The introduction of restrictive new assessment criteria, not previously used by London Councils when they were doing the assessments, excluded a whole set of eligible residents with lifelong conditions like autism, and all of this was done with very little oversight by the Leader of the Council and the Chair of the Adults & Safeguarding committee who knew about the plans to undertake a renewals process and carry out retrospective checks.

“Going forward, the proposed wider assessment criteria is a step in the right direction, but people with autism are still categorised under 'mental health' in government guidance and this needs to be looked at nationally to ensure those with lifelong conditions like autism and those with mental health conditions are treated appropriately.”

The Council's review of the process proposes that the assessment criteria are widened, to ensure that eligible residents are not excluded in future.

The proposals, that include suggestions made by Labour councillors, are that the eligibility criteria for disabled persons' Freedom Passes must be agreed by the policy & resources committee and be subject to consultation.

The proposals also included that if an assessment decides someone is no longer entitled to a pass, they need to be assessed against their ability to have a driving licence before a final decision is made.

If a pass is removed, there must be a right of appeal - and the status quo must be observed until the end of the appeal process.

The Council will now consult on the new proposals from September 12.

They will report the consultation responses to a policy & resources meeting in December for a final decision.