Parking Concessions for People with Disabilities

The Blue (Disabled) Badge Scheme offers holders of the card some parking concessions.  Unfortunately though, the rules vary somewhat from area to area within the UK.  This can make the scheme unnecessarily difficult to understand.  The advice I have to hand is printed by the Scottish Government but should hold true in most areas.  Please check locally though!

Where Do I Get One and Do I Qualify?

Each Local Authority administers its own Blue Badges.  So the place to start is your local council.  It shouldn’t be too difficult to get in touch with them and request an application form.

At the moment, each card is issued at the discretion of the Local Authority where you live.  The only definite qualifiers are if you receive the Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of DLA or you receive a War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement.  If you don’t receive either of these benefits then you will need to present evidence to your Local Authority according to their application process.  However, the Blue Badge Scheme is designed to help disabled people that:

• Have a permanent and substantial disability that makes it very difficult to walk or can’t walk at all.
• Have a temporary but substantial disability likely to last between 1 and 3 years that makes it very difficult to walk or stops them walking at all.
• Are registered blind
• Have a severe disability in both upper limbs, regularly drive but cannot turn the steering wheel of a vehicle by hand.

So if you think you qualify, apply to your Local Authority.

What About Disabled Children?

The scheme has been extended recently to allow parents or carers of disabled children to apply for a Blue Badge.  The guide I have from the Scottish Executive is quite prescriptive about what qualifies.  It says:

Children under 2 whose medical needs require that he or she is accompanied by bulky medical equipment which includes in particular any of the following:

1. Ventilators
2. Suction Pumps
3. Feed Pumps
4. Parenteral Equipment
5. Syringe Drivers
6. Oxygen Administration Equipment and
7. Continual Oxygen Saturation Equipment

It is not clear whether this list is designed to offer guidance or whether a child MUST need something on this list to qualify.  I would appreciate a comment that clears this point.  I believe that children aged three can apply for a badge in their own right.

My advice is ALWAYS ASK.  The worst they can say is no!

The Scottish advice booklet “The Blue Badge Scheme – Parking Concessions for People with Disabilities” can be found by clicking this line.