Disability Rights UK Factsheet

Blue badge scheme

This factsheet is a basic overview of the Blue Badge Scheme. You can find out more about disability, mobility and transport in our Disability Rights Handbook, available at www.disabilityalliance.org/drh36.htm.

Disability Rights Handbook The handbook provides information and guidance on benefits and services for people with a disability or health condition. Fully updated for 2011, our user-friendly guide presents this complex information in a concise, straightforward and jargon-free way. find out more

What is it?

If you have problems with walking or other mobility problems you may be able to get a blue badge to enable you to park your car near shops and other places you wish to visit.

What are the rules?

You qualify for a blue badge if you are age three or over and one of the following applies:

• you are getting higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance
• you are receiving a war pensioner’s mobility supplement
• you are a registered blind person
• you drive a motor vehicle regularly, have a severe disability in both arms, and are unable to operate all or some types of parking meter (or would find it very difficult to operate them).
• you have a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking
• receive a lump sum benefit under article 15(1)(a) of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011(d) within tariff levels 1 to 8 (inclusive) and have been certified by the Secretary of State as having a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking.

You can also get a blue badge for a child under the age of three who, because of his or her medical condition must need one of the following:

• must always be accompanied by bulky medical equipment which cannot be carried around with the child without great difficulty
• must always be kept near a motor vehicle so that, if necessary, treatment for that condition can be given in the vehicle or the child can be taken quickly in the vehicle to a place where such treatment can be given.

Bulky medical equipment can include ventilators, suction machines, feed pumps, parenteral equipment, syringe drivers, oxygen administration equipment, continual oxygen saturation monitoring equipment and casts and associated medical equipment for the correction of hip dysplasia.

Where does the blue badge scheme operate?

The blue badge scheme operates all over the United Kingdom (UK) but there are local differences with the operation of the scheme in certain London boroughs and other large towns or cities in the UK. In Northern Ireland the scheme applies to on-street parking but you can also get a "white badge" to access pedestrian zones.

How do I apply?

Contact your local authority (see the links below for how to apply in Northern Ireland).

Exemption from the congestion charge

If you hold a valid Blue Badge you can apply for exemption from the congestion charge in London by paying a £10 administration fee.

You can register up to two vehicles that you would normally use to travel within the charging zone. This could be your own vehicle, or one you travel in.

For more information call 0845 900 1234 or visit www.tfl.gov.uk/.

Blue Badge reform

Transport Minister Norman Baker has announced a number of reforms to the Blue Badge Scheme aimed at combating fraud within the scheme and also extending blue badge eligibility. These changes will begin to be implemented from April 2011.

The maximum fee that local authorities can charge for a blue badge will go up from £2 to £10.00 in England for badges issued with a start date of 1 January 2012. In Scotland the charge can be up to £20. The Welsh Government has announced that they will offer disabled people a Blue Badge free of charge.

You can find out more information at www.disabilityalliance.org/bluebadge.htm.

Where can I get more information?

There is information about the scheme on the Department for Transport's website at www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/access/bluebadge/ and on the DirectGov website at http://tinyurl.com/56f83p.

The Department for Transport has produced The Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England) June 2011 available at http://tinyurl.com/63tdthw.

Information about the blue badge scheme in Northern Ireland is available at the NI Direct website at http://tinyurl.com/35rrqfm. Information on the Northern Ireland white badge scheme is available from the Department for Regional Development website at http://tinyurl.com/5v77jf7.

This Disability Alliance factsheet is a basic introduction to the blue badge scheme. You can find out more about disability, mobility and transport in Disability Rights UK's Disability Rights Handbook, available at www.disabilityalliance.org/drh36.htm.

All our publications are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/shop.htm. You can also place an order by contacting Disability Rights UK on 020 7247 8776 (this is not an advice line) or by fax on 020 7247 8765. All our factsheets are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/fact.htm.

Radar produce a number of products related to the Blue Badge Scheme, including a Blue Badge road atlas. For more information see www.radar-shop.org.uk.

19 December 2011