Blue Badge reform Survey

1. Introduction

1.1 The Blue Badge scheme provides to people with severe mobility issues (see box below) the opportunity to park near to where they need to be. The scheme is run UK wide, but is administered by Local Authorities as it has been for around 40 years. Currently there are around 275,000 Blue Badge holders in Scotland, as reported by the Local Authorities.[1] This represents around 5.6% of the Scottish population, but that number has risen rapidly from 134,000 in 1997.[2] Further statistics on Badge holders are available in Appendix A.

People who are eligible for a Blue Badge have severe mobility issues as recognised in the following criteria:

Adults and Children over 2:

  • A person who receives the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance.
  • A person who receives a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement.
  • A person who receives an award under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).[3]
  • A person who has a severe disability in both arms, regularly drives a motor vehicle but is unable to operate, or has considerable difficulty in operating, all or some types of parking meter.
  • A person who has a permanent and substantial disability which means they are unable to walk or virtually unable to walk.
  • A person who is registered blind
  • A person who is unable to walk or virtually unable to walk because of a temporary but substantial disability which is likely to last for a period of at least 12 months but less than 3 years

Children under 3 whose medical needs require that he or she is accompanied by bulky medical equipment which includes, in particular, any of the following:

  • ventilators
  • suction machines
  • feed pumps
  • parenteral equipment
  • syringe drivers
  • oxygen administration equipment
  • continual oxygen saturation equipment
  • casts and associated medical equipment for the correction of hip dysplasia

1.2 Local Authorities hold the responsibility for assessing and supplying Blue Badges, though they may choose to ask for medical evidence from General Practitioners (GPs). Under collaborative arrangements between the NHS and Local Authorities set out in NHS circulars issued in 1982[4] and 1993[5], when an Authority asks a GP to assess an applicant, the GP returns the assessment form to the relevant Local Authority and charges a fee to their Health Board, in line with the fees set out in an NHS circular issued in 2005[6]. The responses seem to suggest however that all Local Authorities have not introduced this arrangement. From the point of view of the applicant the process is generally relatively simple, particularly if they qualify for a Badge through possession of one of the automatic criteria.

1.3 In March 2011, a questionnaire was sent by Transport Scotland’s Blue Badge Reform Working Group to all Local Authorities and Health Boards in Scotland with a series of questions about the administration and finances of the Blue Badge scheme. This paper provides analysis of those responses.