Michael Dugher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Dugher on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his officials last updated the Blue Badge Scheme local authority guidance; whether he plans to update that guidance; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

The extent to which a specific condition affects people will vary. If we were to provide automatic eligibility without further assessment by virtue of having dementia it may not reflect genuine need.

However, the ‘subject to further assessment’ criteria do not preclude the issue of badges to people with mental/cognitive disabilities. Any permanent and substantial disability may qualify for a badge if it causes “very considerable difficulty in walking”. It is for the local authority to assess the degree of challenge on a case-by-case basis.

The guidance was last updated in October 2014. There are no plans to update it at this time.