One of Britain’s biggest family theme parks has imposed a cap on the number of queue-jump passes used by customers with ADHD and anxiety.
Drayton Manor Resort in Tamworth has brought in a 10-ride limit on its Easy Access Pass, which allows people with disabilities to skip the main queue for rides and attractions.
Park attendees with neurodiverse mental health conditions such as ADHD and autism can also access the pass.
However, the Staffordshire park has now brought in the limit to ensure it “remains effective and available to the guests who need it most”.
Drayton Manor, which covers 180 acres of south Staffordshire, has around 50 rides and welcomes around 1.5 million visitors a year.
A spokesman for the park said management had experimented with a number of processes to accommodate all visitors, including using wristbands and different systems at peak and off-peak times.
They told GB News: “Drayton Manor is committed to ensuring our Easy Access Service remains effective and available to the guests who need it most.
“Over the last few years, we have trialled a number of different processes to ensure that the service works well for those visitors, which included both cards and wristbands, as well as peak and off-peak variations.
“We removed the ride cap for the Easy Access pass in 2023, but over the last three years we have seen a significant rise in the number of guests registering for the service, which has placed additional pressure on queue times.
“To ensure that everyone can experience everything that Drayton Manor has to offer, we reintroduced a ride limit earlier this year for Easy Access Service users.
“This number reflects what a guest could typically expect to experience during a day at the park using standard queuing and is based on the footfall in the park each day. We continually review our accessibility offering to ensure that it works for all our guests.”
Up the M6, Alton Towers Resort caused backlash after it was announced customers with ADHD, autism and anxiety would no longer be able to use its ride access pass, following similar concerns.
The park’s management u-turned on the policy but is expected to announce a new policy on the matter later this summer, adding “the need for change remains”.
Critics of the scheme have suggested the arrangements are being abused aas “lifestyle perks” despite being set up for the physically disabled and those with less obvious disabilities such as epilepsy or dementia.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has previously said “an ADHD diagnosis alone should not get you a Blue Badge”.
Sr Stephen Timms, the minister leading a review into the disability benefits system, has said as he insisted it must be made “financially sustainable”.
The MP for East Ham said people would have to “wait and see” what his team’s final report into personal independence payment (Pip) said this autumn when asked whether it might include cuts to the numbers of people claiming the benefit.
He warned that the “vital support” provided by Pip to help cover the extra costs of being disabled could be under threat if the costs of the system keep rising.
Pip is intended to help with everyday tasks and extra living costs if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.
The latest official figures earlier this year showed the number of people in England and Wales claiming the main disability benefit passed four million for the first time, roughly doubling since 2019.
Spending on Pip was around £15billion in 2019/20, had risen to around £26billion by 2024/25 and, by spring 2026, was forecast to rise to more than £41billion by the end of the decade.
Teenagers and young adults continue to account for a growing proportion of those receiving Pip, with 16.6 per cent of claimants in April aged 16-29, up from 14.3 per cent in April 2020.
While there has been a similar rise for the 30-44 age group, which accounted for 20.9 per cent in April, up from 18.7 per cent in 2020, there has been a fall in the proportion of claimants aged 45 to 59, at 28.9 per cent of claimants in April, down from 36 per cent.
The figure for 60 to 74-year-olds was 31.1 per cent, broadly unchanged from 31 per cent in 2020.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who is now the Your Party MP for Islington North, asked whether Sir Stephen’s review would result in “some form of cash limiting of Pip”, to ease pressure on the Exchequer.
The minister replied his review team must “stay within the currently projected” spending, as forecasted by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) watchdog.
Sir Stephen added: “There isn’t a sort-of a cash limit but one can project what the spending is going to be, and the steering group is constrained to stick within the currently predicted spending.
“Actually, I think there may well be reductions because if we do a better job in all the ways that we’ve been talking about this afternoon, I think we can do a better job both for disabled people and for taxpayers whose taxes are paying for this system.”
