Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham, has helped a resident with her application for a disabled bus pass from Durham County Council.
Ann, a constituent of Richard’s, applied to Durham County Council for a disabled bus pass at the beginning of March this year and was informed a decision would be made within two weeks. By August, she still had not heard from the council about her application – the council had seen an extremely high workload due to coronavirus and, despite Ann’s contacting them on several occasions, had not managed to reach a decision about her case, leaving her without a bus pass.
Ann reached out to Richard’s office, who immediately got in touch with the council to raise it as an urgent issue. The council were then able to confirm that Ann had been successful in her application and, soon after Richard’s office had contacted the council, Ann received her bus pass.
Commenting, Richard said:
“I am really pleased that we were able to get this issue resolved so quickly for Ann. Ann had followed the correct procedure but, due to coronavirus, did not hear about her application for five months. I am grateful that, following our intervention, the council were able to sort this out so quickly.
“All those who are entitled to a disabled bus pass should receive one quickly and without hassle as, for many, travelling by bus may be their only mode of transport.
“I will always do everything I can to help my constituents with any issue or query they may have. I appreciate that this has been a difficult year for us all, and if you want any assistance with anything please don’t hesitate to get in touch.”
You can sign up to Richard’s newsletter and hear more about the work he is doing for North West Durham here or by using the form on this page.