Blue Badges - formerly Orange Badges

What is the Blue Badge Scheme?

The Blue Badge Scheme provides a national arrangement of parking concessions for people with severe walking difficulties who travel either as drivers or passengers. The scheme also applies to registered blind people, and people with severe upper limb disabilities who regularly drive a vehicle but cannot turn a steering wheel by hand. It allows badge holders to park close to their destination, but the national concessions apply only to on-street parking. Details are set out in the 'Where to park' section below. In addition, other concessions may be available to badge holders - see the 'Other concessions for badge holders' section below.

You can download the Blue Badge application form, complete it and return it with the requested enclosures to:

Customer Services
Car Badges
County Hall
Cauldwell Street
Bedford
MK42 9AP

The Blue Badge Scheme is effectively a replacement for the Orange Badge Scheme. The new European Blue Badges were introduced in April 2000, as existing badges come up for renewal, or as new applications are processed.

You can apply for a Blue Badge if:

• you receive the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living allowance 
• you receive a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement
• you use a motor vehicle supplied for disabled people by a Government Health Department 
• you are registered blind
• you have a severe disability in both upper limbs, regularly drive a motor vehicle but cannot turn the steering wheel of a motor vehicle by hand even if that wheel is fitted with a turning knob 
• you have a permanent and substantial disability which means you are unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty in walking. In this case you may be asked to answer series of questions to help the local authority determine whether you are eligible for a badge People with a psychological disorder will not normally qualify unless their impairment causes very considerable, and not intermittent, difficulty in walking

Note: Children under two years of age do not qualify for a badge because they would not normally be expected to be able to walk independently. Organisations caring for disabled people meeting one or more of the above criteria may be able to get a badge, but this is entirely at the local authorities' discretion and the conditions for using such badges must be strictly observed - see point 3 in section 80. 

Where can I apply?

If you think you may be entitled to a badge you should apply:

In England and Wales to the Social Services Department of your County, Unitary, Metropolitan District or London Borough Council. Please see below for contact details. 

In Scotland to the Chief Executive or Social Work Department of your local Council.

Your local authority will decide if you are eligible for a badge. There is no right of appeal against their decision if you do not meet the eligibility conditions.

Photographs

The Blue Badge is a two-sided card with space for a photograph of the badge holder on the back of the card. Your application should, therefore, be accompanied by 2 reasonably recent photographs, which you should sign on the back. You may send passport-type photographs taken from self-service booths or any suitable photographs cut down to a passport photo size.

Where does the scheme not apply?

• on private roads
• in off-street car parks. However, some may provide spaces for disabled people. You should check the signs to see what concessions are available, and whether Blue Badge holders have to pay. Always display your Blue Badge when occupying one of these spaces.
• in certain town centres, where access is prohibited or limited to vehicles with special permits issued locally.
• in Central London but some facilities are provided
  on the road systems at some airports (e.g. Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester). You should therefore contact the airport concerned in advance to check the car parking arrangements.

Where to Park?

Badge holders may park free of charge and without time limit at parking meters on-street and "pay-and-display" on-street parkingunless a local traffic order, specifying a time limit for holders of disabled parking Badges, is in force.

The Blue Badge must be displayed.

Badge holders may be exempt from limits on parking times imposed on other users. (Check local signs for information.)

The Blue Badge must be displayed.

Badge holders may usually park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours in England and Wales, or without any time limit in Scotland except where there is a ban on loading or unloading, and at a few locations where local schemes apply, e.g. the area of Central London coloured light blue in the map.

The Blue Badge must be displayed, and in England and Wales the special blue parking disc must also be displayed showing the time of arrival.

There must be an interval of at least one hour from a previous period of waiting before the same vehicle can be parked in the same road or part of a road on the same day.

If in doubt, please display the parking disk.

Where should you not park?

The Blue Badge is not a licence to park anywhere. You must NOT park:

during the time a ban on loading or unloading is in force (normally indicated by one or two yellow marks on the kerb at the times shown on post mounted plates) .

For example:

 

Loading prohibited 24 hours a day,7 days a week, for at least 4 consecutive months.

 

Loading prohibited for any lesser period. The arrow indicates the direction in which the prohibition starts.

 

However, in pedestrian areas, waiting and loading restrictions may be in force even where there are no yellow lines shown on the road or kerb. Details of any restrictions in force will be shown on plates displayed at the kerb side of the road:

• where there are double white lines in the centre of the road even if one of the lines is broken
• in a bus or tram lane during its hours of operation
  in a cycle lane
• on any clearway, double or single red lines during their hours of operation
  on Zebra, Pelican or Toucan crossings
• on zig-zag markings before and after Zebra, Pelican or Toucan crossings
  in parking places reserved for specific users e.g. loading bays, taxis, cycles
  on a residents parking bay, unless there are signs showing that you may do so, or you have checked with the local authority's Highway Department that you may do so
• in suspended meter bays or when use of the meter is prohibited
  where temporary restrictions on parking are in force along a length of road e.g. as indicated by no-waiting cones
  on school "keep clear" markings during the hours shown on a yellow no-stopping plate

You must also not park where it would be obstructive or cause a danger to others. The following are likely examples:

• at school entrances, bus stops, on a bend, or near the brow of a hill or hump bridge 
• where it would make it difficult for others to see clearly e.g. close to a junction
  where it would make the road narrow e.g. by a traffic island or where roadwork is in progress
• where it would hold uptraffic e.g. in narrow stretches of road or blocking vehicle entrances
• where emergency vehicles stop or go in and out e.g. hospital entrances
• where the kerb has been lowered or the road raised to form a pedestrian crossing
• on a pavement unless signs permit it

Please remember….

If you park where it would cause an obstruction or danger to other road users your vehicle could be removed by the police. You could also be prosecuted and your badge withdrawn.

Vehicles cannot legally be wheel clamped on the public highway for parking offences provided a valid Blue Badge is correctly displayed on the vehicle. But you should be aware that if you park improperly on privately owned land you may risk having your vehicle wheel clamped.

The vehicle must be moved if a police officer or a traffic warden in uniform requests it.

How to use the badge

You must display the badge on top of the dashboard or facia panel of a vehicle with the front of the badge (i.e. the side showing the wheelchair-user symbol) facing forward so that the relevant details are legible from outside of the vehicle when using the parking benefits. If the vehicle does not have a dashboard or facia panel you must exhibit the badge in a conspicuous position on the vehicle so that the relevant details are legible from outside the vehicle when using the parking benefits.

The badge should only be displayed when using the parking benefits under the Scheme, except if the vehicle is being driven by someone other than the badge holder for the purpose of entering or leaving an area (which is accessible only to vehicles displaying a Blue Badge) in order to pick up or drop off the badge holder.

Similar badges given to organisations caring for disabled people must not be used by non-disabled members for their own benefit. These badges must not be on display except when the vehicle is being used for the benefit of disabled people.

Badges last for three years only. When you need a new one apply to the issuing authority for reassessment some weeks before the badge expires.

You must return the badge to the issuing authority if you no longer need it.

How to use the special parking disk

In England and Wales you will need a parking disc (which you can get from the authority issuing the badge) when you park on yellow lines or in a reserved parking place for badge holders which has a time limit. The disc must be displayed every time you park and set to show the time of arrival. Disabled people living in Scotland who intend to visit England or Wales should be able to get this disc from their local Council.

Your duties as a badge holder

The purpose of the Scheme is to allow you to visit shops and other places. You must ensure that you use your badge with care and attention to the rules.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the badge is used properly. It is in your own interest that the badge should retain the respect of other motorists. Please play your part.

You must not allow other people to use the badge. To reduce the risk of this happening accidentally, you should remove the badge whenever you are not using the parking concessions except in the circumstances listed at the end of the 'Misuse of a badge' section below.

You must ensure that the details on the front of the badge remain legible. If they become unreadable, the badge must be returned to the local authority for re-issue.

You should not use the badge to allow non-disabled people to take advantage of the benefits while you sit in the car. Although it is not illegal for a badge holder, or a non-disabled person waiting for the badge holder to return, to remain in the vehicle while the Blue Badge is displayed, consideration should be given to using a car park wherever possible.

If you are a disabled driver

Remember that if you are a disabled driver and your disability is such that it is likely or may become likely to affect your ability to drive (even if your car is adapted) the law requires you to inform:

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Swansea
SA99 ITU

Misuse of the badge

Misuse of a Blue Badge is a serious offence.

Your badge can be withdrawn if you misuse it or allow others to misuse it.

It is a criminal offence for non-disabled people to use a badge. If they do so, they are liable to a fine of up to £1000.

It is a criminal offence to drive a vehicle displaying an Blue Badge unless the badge holder is in the vehicle, or the vehicle is being driven by someone other than the badge holder for the purpose of entering or leaving an area (which is accessible only to vehicles displaying an Blue Badge) in order to pick up or drop off the holder.

Misuse of a designated Blue Badge bay

Non-disabled people who park in a bay designated for Blue Badge holders are liable to a parking fine.

Other concessions for badge holders

In many areas local authorities provide reserved parking places for badge holders. You should use these spaces in preference to parking on yellow lines. Local authorities may impose a time limit on the use of such spaces. You must always display a valid badge when occupying one of these spaces, and if a time limit is in force a parking disc must also be displayed.

Some local authorities also waive charges in their own off-street car parks. You are advised to check the notices in the car park to see if, and where, you can park free of charge.

Badge holders are exempted from tolls at certain river crossings. Further details of these concessions may be obtained by writing to:

The Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions
Disability Branch
Mobility Unit
Zone 1/11
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Telephone: 020 7944 6800

With the introduction of the new European-style blue badge, badge holders will be able to take advantage of the disabled motorists parking privileges wherever they are in the European Union. Further details of the benefits available may be obtained by contacting the Department as shown below.

Where do I obtain a Blue Badge?

North/Mid/South Bedfordshire
Customer Services
Car Badges
County Hall
Cauldwell Street
Bedford
MK42 9AP

Tel: (01234) 228557
Email: bluebadges@bedscc.gov.uk|