Blue Badge reform Survey

10. Appendix A Tables

10.1 The following statistics, from the Scottish Household Survey, show that the pattern of people receiving Blue Badges has been changing over the past decade. As the population has aged, a higher proportion of Badge holders are people aged over 65. However numbers of Badge holders have grown in all age categories, including child Badge holders. The proportion of Badge holders who are permanently retired from work has risen from 51% in 2001 to 62% in 2010, whilst those who have been reported as permanently sick and disabled for work has fallen from 32% to 23%, reflecting the changing age profile. About 11% of Badge holders report that they have no illness or disability.

10.2 Blue Badge possession statistics from the SHS:

Table 1: Possession by Gender from the Random Adult section of the Scottish Household Survey.

%	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Gender
Male	45.7	45.2	44.9	44.1	41.6	44.6	43.3	43.9	42.3	43.8	43.6
Female	54.3	54.8	55.1	55.9	58.4	55.4	56.7	56.1	57.7	56.2	56.4

There has been slow rise in the ratio of women in possession of a Blue Badge relative to men.

Table 2: Possession by age-group (from the Scottish Household Survey, against population from GROS.)

Blue Badge numbers by age	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Under 16	4900	5800	2900	3800	5600	8400	3700	5500	7300
16-29	3900	4200	5100	6100	3900	4600	6800	5800	9100
31-39	6700	11000	7900	7200	9600	9600	10600	11100	12100
40-49	15200	20400	17800	21200	17800	18300	22400	20600	26400
50-59	32600	35900	33100	34500	33600	37000	41300	38500	41300
60-64	22700	27800	20300	24700	24800	27200	28700	31400	23700
65 +	106300	112900	113000	124500	124300	143600	142400	156300	162700
total	192400	218100	200100	221900	219600	248600	256000	269100	282600
	(Sum may not be the same due to rounding. Total 2009 sum is not the same as the administrative figures from Local Authorities listed in Scottish Transport Statistics, and quoted above. The figures in this table are estimates based on survey responses, however the difference between the two (275,000 vs. 283,000) is considered to be very low).

Across all ages there have been rising numbers of Blue Badge holders. The rate of change varies, but is relatively similar across adult age groups (the small number of children in the sample may explain their unusual pattern):

Relative rate of change for each age-group

^[11]

Table 3: Employment Status

Status %	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Self employed	0.6	0.2	0.4	1.0	0.7	1.3	1.1	0.9	1.3	0.8	2.2
Employed full time	2.6	2.2	3.1	4.2	3.9	3.2	3.3	4.2	5.2	4.4	5.9
Employed part time	2.1	1.6	0.6	1.7	1.9	2.1	2.0	2.0	1.8	2.6	1.9
Looking after the home or family	5.6	6.2	4.5	5.4	5.1	3.8	4.1	3.6	3.4	2.3	2.1
Permanently retired from work	55.3	58.4	60.1	56.8	61.3	62.6	61.4	64.3	61.1	64.8	61.5
Unemployed and seeking work	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.6
At school	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.6
In further/higher education	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.1	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.7
Gov't work or training scheme	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
Permanently sick or disabled	31.6	29.5	29.9	29.3	24.6	25.1	25.5	23.1	24.7	22.8	23.3
Unable to work because of short-term illness or injury	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.5	1.5	0.7	1.1	0.7	1.2	0.6	1.1
Other	0.7	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.1

The largest change here is in the rising proportion of people who are permanently retired from work, and correspondingly the largest fall is in those who are permanently sick and disabled (but of working age). Note that these are percentages of Badge holders, so the numbers are not falling in any category, but retirees are rising fastest.

Table 4: Household type

Household type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Single adult	8.7	5.3	5.1	6.8	6.8	7.8	7.6	7.5	7.7	7.5	13.9
Small adult	13.5	13.7	12.6	12.9	12.0	11.9	11.1	12.2	13.1	10.0	17.1
Single parent	1.1	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.8	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.8
Small family	3.9	4.6	3.3	4.3	3.8	3.2	3.3	2.3	2.8	2.9	3.0
Large family	5.2	4.0	3.8	3.9	4.1	4.2	3.9	2.7	3.2	2.7	2.9
Large adult	10.9	13.5	11.8	13.1	12.1	11.5	10.2	11.7	11.3	12.7	9.8
Older smaller	37.0	37.3	41.2	37.9	39.0	38.5	39.2	38.9	37.1	36.3	30.9
Single pensioner	19.7	21.1	21.6	20.4	21.7	22.3	23.8	23.7	23.7	26.8	21.5

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There has not been significant change by household type, though in common with the major demographic trends for Scotland family categories have been reducing, whilst single adults and single pensioners have been rising.

Table 5: Reason for the Badge (self reported)

%	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Illness/disability
Disability	39.5	43.3	38.1	40.9	37.8	39.4	39.0	36.2	31.3
Illness or health problem	21.5	20.5	23.7	24.0	21.5	23.0	19.1	20.9	21.4
Both disability and health problem	30.6	26.9	29.8	27.2	33.7	30.1	34.5	34.6	35.8
Neither	8.3	9.0	8.0	7.5	7.1	7.5	7.1	8.1	11.1

The major change here is in the rising proportion of people with more complex needs, with those reporting both a disability and health problem rising from 31% to 36%, and those reporting only a disability falling from 40% to 31%. Looking in more depth at the those who report neither a disability nor an illness, and combining sets from 2003 to 2009 to achieve greater statistical clarity, the only immediately apparent difference is a much higher proportion who are in work full time – 18%, as compared with just 6% of Badge holders overall. In all other categories the picture is broadly the same. Note that illness and disability are self-reported, so some people may, for example, see inability to walk as merely a part of ageing, rather than an illness or disability, and so may still meet the objective eligibility criteria.