Disabled people need right to travel abroad, say UK MPs amid ‘ridiculous’ restrictions row

Disabled people in the United Kingdom are being denied the right to travel abroad with the personal assistants (PAs) who provide them with 24‑hour care, a situation highlighted by two contrasting cases that illustrate the patchwork of local policies. Joel, a 40‑year‑old marketing graduate with spinal muscular atrophy, has been blocked for eight years by the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board from using his personal health budget to cover his PAs’ travel costs, effectively preventing him from leaving the country despite being able to afford his own airfare. By contrast, David, a 25‑year‑old living just 40 miles away in the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership area, received an annual allocation of £2,370 to contribute toward his PA team’s travel and accommodation, enabling him to take a European holiday this summer. Both men have identical health conditions and care packages, yet their ability to travel hinges on the whims of different local NHS care boards, a disparity described by Joel as “brazenly discriminatory” and by disability advocates as a violation of fundamental human rights.

The inconsistency stems from a lack of national guidance on the use of care funding for overseas trips, leaving each integrated care board to interpret NHS guidance and human‑rights obligations independently. In Joel’s case, the board reversed an earlier decision that had permitted overseas PA expenses, labeling the prior allowance a “historical error in decision‑making” and restricting travel funding to the UK only. When Joel challenged the ruling, his appeal was dismissed, and he was told the policy change was final. David’s experience was similarly fraught; his board initially denied holiday PA expenses for five years before relenting after he presented evidence that the refusal could breach NHS guidance and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which the UK has ratified. Experts such as Jane Campbell and Debbie Abrahams, chair of the Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, argue that these ad‑hoc decisions not only contravene international obligations but also undermine the government’s own rhetoric about encouraging disabled people to work, travel and lead independent lives.

Calls for uniform, national standards have intensified as more cases emerge across the country, with the Guardian previously exposing similar refusals by other NHS boards and local councils. Advocates warn that without clear guidelines, disabled individuals will continue to face prohibitive costs that effectively bar them from international travel, reinforcing social exclusion and inequality. The recent policy update from Cheshire and Merseyside, approved on 10 September, permits requests for holiday travel expenses but adds that such costs “would not ordinarily” be covered, underscoring the ambiguous nature of current rules. MPs such as Marsha de Cordova stress that the right to travel should not be left to the “mood of local officials,” urging the government to issue definitive guidance that protects disabled people’s rights and eliminates the “ridiculous” restrictions that currently dictate whether a person can experience the same freedoms as their able‑bodied peers.

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