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Legal, pensions and money

Is council playing fast and loose with age discrimination legislation

(7 Posts)
Dylis Thu 21-Apr-22 15:41:51

My local council has decided to withdraw free residential visitor's parking permits for the over 75's because..
"The 100% subsidy for residential parking permits for people over 75 is ending. The change is required by age discrimination legislation which requires all age groups to be treated equally"
Surely that would mean that student rail cards/bus passes etc are also falling foul of age discrimination legislation.

maddyone Thu 21-Apr-22 15:55:26

Free prescriptions for over 65s.
Any senior citizen discount or offer.
Free bus passes.
Free eye tests for over 60s.
And so on. Do they fall foul of age discrimination? I don’t know.

Elizabeth27 Thu 21-Apr-22 16:16:42

Wasn’t it age discrimination to provide it anyway?

DaisyAnne Thu 21-Apr-22 16:31:13

Is anything being done to oppose this Dylis? It's usually the sort of think the local press like to take up. It does appear very strange. Will they the permits free for the disabled, I wonder.

OakDryad Thu 21-Apr-22 17:21:06

In your first sentence, you say this change relates to visitors’ permits not to residents’ permits.

I live in a road which has a residents’ parking scheme. If you are over 65, you are entitled to one free resident permit for your own vehicle. The cost to those under 65 is £26 per year.

If you do not need a resident permit you can buy a visitor permit instead at a cost of £26 per year. This must be allocated to a particular vehicle and allows on-road parking for up to four hours. The cost of the visitor permit applies irrespective of the age of the resident or the visitor.

You cannot buy a visitor permit if you already have a resident permit. Instead you must buy visitor tickets. They cost:

£5, which allows your visitor to park for up to one hour
£15, which allows your visitor to park for up to four hours

£20, which allows your visitor to park for up to six hours

As with the visitor permit, charges apply irrespective of the age of the resident applying for them or the age of the visitor.

Perhaps your local authority is bringing its scheme into line with other authorities.

Dylis Thu 21-Apr-22 17:55:13

The visitor scheme you mention would be wonderful! Our road is a permanent car park at the moment. So many people are WFH and misuse the "visitors" pass as a second car pass.
I am not over 75 but the fact that the council appears to have lied to raise extra money (visitor pass is £100) from older residents who don't have cars makes me very angry.

Doodledog Thu 21-Apr-22 18:13:25

Students come in all ages, so I don’t think it would be discriminatory to offer a cheaper pass to them.

Health-related discounts/freebies based on age makes sense to me - older people, as well as those with a family history of glaucoma and diabetics get free eye tests, for instance. As they are more likely to develop various conditions, it makes sense not to have deterrents to seeking advice. Apart from the human angle, surely it will save money for the NHS in the long run?