Citizens Advice is the national body for Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABx) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The CAB service is the largest independent network of free advice centres in Europe, with 430 main bureaux in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Bureaux provide advice from over 3,300 outlets, including bureaux in the high street, community centres, health settings, courts and prisons. All CABx are registered charities.
The CAB service has twin aims: to ensure that individuals do not suffer through a lack of information about their rights; and equally to exercise a responsible influence on the development of policies and practices, both at a local and national level.
In 2006/07 Citizens Advice in England & Wales helped 2 million people to solve 5.7 million new problems. Of these problems, 4,366 related to blue badges and parking charge exemptions.
Summary
- There is a case for parking charges for Blue Badge holders to be waived or reduced given that they may have no choice but to travel by car due to their impairment or due to inadequate public transport.
- There is a case for broadening the eligibility criteria for receiving a Blue Badge in particular to address the problems facing those aged 65 or over.
- Consideration should be given to the introduction of a system if temporary badges similar to that in Scotland in which people can apply for a Blue Badge if their condition is temporary (at least 12 months) but substantial.
- Blue Badge holders and parking officials need better and clearer information about what the Blue Badge entitles people to and what it does not. It is also apparent from our evidence that it would be helpful to Blue Badge holders if there was greater consistency between local authorities in terms of parking controls and fines.
1.1 Fines, confiscation and clamping for badge holders
Many Blue Badge holders seem to be unaware of the fact that the Blue Badge does not allow them to park free of charge or in private car parks or roads. This has led to people with a disability experiencing fines and in some cases their cars being clamped. The rules and guidelines around this need to be reviewed and clarified, both for officials and Badge holders.
A CAB client in the West Midlands had had his Blue Badge confiscated by the police for misuse. The man explained that his son had dropped him in town for shopping and then gone to park the car. His son was stopped by the police after parking the car. The badge was confiscated for evidential purposes. The man tried to get another badge but was declined on grounds that his case had not yet been settled.
Bureaux have seen clients who have been fined for parking in private roads or car parks. While this is legal, it is unfair if there is insufficient disabled parking nearby.
A client of a CAB in Hertfordshire received a parking fine of £50 for parking in a private road near a post office. She thought that she was allowed to park there as she was a Blue Badge holder. Although the company that issued the fine claimed that blue badge holders would be treated ‘beneficially’ if an explanation was submitted, there is no evidence of this. Another client with a Blue Badge seen by the bureau – an elderly gentleman of 83 – received a fine from the same company for parking in the same road.
A client of a CAB in Berkshire, a Blue Badge holder, had been issued a fine for parking in a residents parking bay. She was dropping off documents to the DVLA offices and their car park was too full for her to get anywhere close. The fine added to her debt problems and contributed to subsequent issues by bailiffs.
A CAB in Wiltshire saw an 81-year-old woman – a Blue Badge holder – who had severe arthritis including spinal arthritis which caused great pain on walking. She had her vehicle clamped in a private car park and had to pay £125 to get it released. Although the action was within the law, it was extremely uncompassionate and led to great distress for the client, who was unaware that she required a ticket. If she had not been able to pay the fine on the spot, she would have had to endure great pain in walking to alternative transport.
A 71-year old client of a CAB in London received a penalty charge when his blue badge slipped down inside the car while he was taking his seriously ill neighbour to hospital. He appealed but was refused and had to pay £120 within 14 days. He was unable to do this as he was on Pension Credit – he was very stressed and worried.
A CAB in Yorkshire saw an 87-year-old man with a Blue Badge who walked with a stick. He needed to get to the bank but their car park was closed so he parked in a private car park, thinking that with his badge he would be OK for five minutes. He was ticketed for £60. On the same day he wrote a letter of appeal, saying he did not have the money to pay – he was living on income support, full housing benefit and full council tax benefit. He heard nothing more until a letter six weeks later demanding £183. He was very distressed as the fine added to his debts, yet the bureau could do little to help due to lack of regulation of private car park operators.
A client of a CAB in Cornwall was severely disabled with rheumatoid arthritis and had a Blue Badge. She had been attending a Day Centre for several months because of her anxiety and depression. On the instruction of the Day Centre’s manager she had always parked around the back of the centre. However one day she found her car clamped. She had no money but the Day Centre staff paid the £70.50 to release the car.
1.2 Possible concessions for Blue Badge holders
There is a case for parking fees for those with a Blue Badge to be reduced or waived. They have less choice in where they park than able bodied people and are often not aware anyway that their Blue Badge does not give them free parking.
A Hampshire CAB saw a man who felt he was being discriminated against by new parking charges. As a Blue Badge holder, he had, for years, been able to park for free in one of four disabled bays in a seaside spot near to his home. A charge of £20 a day had recently been introduced, and it was only possible to park for one hour, or the whole day. The man highly valued his trips to the seaside as it was one of the few activities accessible to him. He felt discriminated against because he would, as a disabled person, need to park for longer than an able bodied person. He also does not have the choice of parking further away from the seaside in a free car park (should one be available).
A CAB in the West Midlands saw a 76-year-old woman with a blue badge who had spent over £100 on hospital parking charges in the last four months. There is currently no concession for those having to attend the hospital for regular treatment.
2. Restrictive eligibility criteria
Currently there is only an automatic right to a Blue Badge if a person is in receipt of Higher Rate Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Attendance Allowance, which applies for those aged 65 or over does not currently create an entitlement to a Blue Badge. Those receiving Attendance Allowance will often have comparable impairments to those receiving Higher Rate DLA and will require almost constant attendance and assistance. Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABs) have seen clients who are clearly in need of a Blue Badge but, because they do not automatically qualify, have to depend on the discretion of local authorities to grant them a badge.
A CAB in the East Midlands saw a man suffering from polio in his left leg. The leg was without feeling and the client uses braces whenever he has to walk anywhere. He could only walk for 400 yards before he started to suffer acute discomfort. As he was unlikely to qualify for higher rate DLA, he was going to have to rely on the discretion of his local authority to decide he was in need of a badge.
A woman visited a CAB in the West Midlands having been refused a blue badge for her disabled daughter on two occasions. The client had a blue badge in her own right owing to her own disability. However, there were occasions when, due to her condition, she could not drive her daughter to school or other places. On these occasions relatives or friends obliged but without a blue badge they could not park close to the school or other amenities. The child had physical trouble walking and tended to misbehave without her mother’s supervision.
A CAB in Norfolk advised a client who was at risk from social exclusion because she had been refused a blue badge. She had fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis and had problems walking. She was in receipt of Incapacity Benefit and the lower rate of DLA. The local social services department rejected her claim and told her that they would not consider her case on concessionary grounds due to abuse of the system. The woman’s social life suffered as a result of her not being able to park near to local amenities.
Basing the automatic eligibility on receipt of higher rate DLA is discriminatory for older people as Attendance Allowance does not have a mobility element. As the law stands, if you claim Disability Living Allowance for help with care or mobility costs before your 65th birthday you can continue to receive it afterwards. After reaching 65 you can only claim the less generous Attendance Allowance, which offers no help with extra costs of mobility or lower-level care needs and no access to the blue badge scheme. Not only do older people feel very angry about this, but it is increasingly at odds with the Government’s intentions to see older people remain in work.
3. Those with short term disabilities
Citizens Advice Bureaux have also seen people for whom a badge would make life a great deal easier, but due to their disability being for a short period of time, they cannot be considered under the discretionary grounds by their local authority. A scheme similar to that in Scotland should be considered, where people can apply for a blue badge if their condition is temporary (at least 12 months) but substantial.
A Hampshire CAB saw a man who had damaged the tendons in his foot and was unable to walk very far. This was unlikely to change for the next six months. He was using a wheelchair and it would have been very helpful for him to be able to park in the wider disabled parking spaces so that he could get the wheelchair out of his car, and himself into the wheelchair, more easily.
There should also be an option to apply for a blue badge for a visiting disabled relative.
A Yorkshire CAB saw a man whose mother had motor neurone disease and had to use a wheelchair. She was staying with her son for three weeks but he was unable to obtain a Blue Badge for the duration of her stay. The woman obviously did not have a Blue Badge herself as she was not a UK resident.
4. Clarity in instructions
Although seemingly a minor issue, a lack of clarity about how to correctly display the blue badge led to a Hampshire CAB’s 82-year- old client being issued a parking fine. She wrongly displayed the badge with the photograph side up.
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