Keen to know if others are having a problem renewing Blue Badge.
Awarded last year by Wokingham District Council following appeal, now turned down although nothing has changed.
Blue Badge: Keen to know if others are having a... - Mencap
Blue Badge
Written by
Ronca
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31 Replies
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Hello Ronca
Thanks for posting about this. Did they give you any reason for the change? It seems very odd if nothing has changed.
I will check with our helpline if they have any more information.
There is quite a lot of information online about appealing the decision. Citizen's Advice have a great page here - citizensadvice.org.uk/benef...
Best wishes
Sarah
Hi Sarah
Reason given was the same as last year 0 points for mobility, he is in receipt of higher rate mobility and he has 2- 1 care, 100% funded by NHScc we appealed successfully last year following submissions of further evidence from psychiatrist and psychologist. My son is extremely unlikely to improve (waiting for miracle) it is stressful and time consuming to have to keep asking for written evidence from professionals in support of this application.
Hi All
There is a mencap article that states the criteria for eligibility for Blue
Badge for those with LD.
10 points or more have been awarded in the PIP application on Moving Around
I will update when a response has been received.
Hi , I tried to renew my 36 yr old severe learning disabled sons badge . He has had a blue badge since he was 5yrs old He was turned down this time as pip scored him O on one part of his mobility section . He has high rate mobility so I automatically thought he was intiteled to the blue badge, ,... I was sent a message by email to renew the badge for him but it was refused for the first time ever ...I contacted Essex County Council who said the criteria had changed , my son has no speech or understanding , needs 24/7 care, can't go out side the door without 1to1 supervision which was all documented on his PIP form , I was shocked after 31 years to be turned down now , His carers need the badge for him as he has challenging behaviour and is very unstable due to his walking Gait , he trips a up lot, he has to be held onto so he doesnt wonder into the road, Council were not helpful and quite rude , I was told to start Pip again or go to my MP , which seems to be a mantra at the moment with ECC
I had the same reply. My son gets enhanced rate for both but on the “moving around” part of the mobility section he gets 0 points. I appealed and they phoned me. I explained if he had a meltdown we needed to be able to get him in the car. He is a big lad and we need the space. He has 2:1 support in the community. He has epilepsy. I gave a whole list of reasons and they relented. No doubt we’ll go through it all again in a few months though when it’s once again up for renewal. They did request “medical evidence” and I sent them a copy of his prescriptions.
The law changed in August 2019 to cover “hidden disabilities” which should in theory have made it easier for those that are fully mobile.
Thankyou for your reply. I thought I was the only one with this problem for my son .
He has just had a melt down with his transport this morning because the driver wanted to take his bag to put it in the boot ,
My son is not on medication after taking him off Ritalin which he was on for over 20 yrs so I think giving pip extra proof will be difficult , he has challenging behaviour on his medical records which I put down on the pip assessment form .
Essex County Council were unhelpful , the man I spoke too suggested I went through the PIP procedure again or phone my MP ?? .
I don't know what more evidence I can give as I gave a complete description of his disability and Challenging behaviour on the original form ,
I will try again as I don't want to just give up ,I just wish things weren't so stressful , I should be used to it after 36years of caring for him ??
It’s up to the council whether to give blue badges or not. Does he get enhanced rate of PIP for both?
Yes he gets enhanced rate for both, the man I spoke to at the essex County council was not helpful , he said to go through the PIP assessment again or go to my MP which seems to be thier answer to everything at the moment about the MP
I 2asnt aware of the changes of criteria in the pip assessment as his badge renewal was sent by email to renew automatically
If he’s fully mobile he won’t get any points for the “moving around” part of the pip assessment, so pointless going back to them. My son has zero points for this but has blue badges.
Blue badges are dealt with by the council. . I’d try to speak to someone else at the council. I literally filled in section 3 of the online renewal with all the reasons we needed it. We had to apply via the discretionary route.
I phoned them as I had no “medical” evidence to include but they accepted a prescription. A letter from your son’s GP should suffice.
Yes. My son has had blue badges since he was little. When he changed over to pip I realised that they aren’t automatically issued with the enhanced rate for the mobility part of PIP. Unlike DLA the mobility part of PIP is further broken down into two sections “moving around” and “making and planning a journey”. My son get the maximum points for “making and planning a journey” which entitles him to the enhanced rate for mobility but zero points for moving around which is where the blue badges come in. It’s ridiculous that he’s entitled to a motability car but getting the badges is a hassle. We had to provide medical evidence and fill out section 3 of the application. For the last 2 times I’ve sent a copy of his prescriptions. It’s best to speak to the council directly and explain all the reasons why he needs them.
Not all problems are about mobility when getting a Blue Badge. The adverts say....Not everyone's disability is noticeable. Don't take No for an answer, you must appeal. I think they like the stalling tactic. Seems nationwide.
hello again
I have been in touch with our campaigns team about this.
From Stephen -
"I worked so much on blue badge appeals back in 2006 - 2008. It is very common that they are either not given or are rescinded. I would encourage an appeal - it used to be said that around 40$ of appeals are successful.
My advice is to gather evidence and appeal - GP letter, social care team, teachers etc. They should be able to appeal online. Its not as common for PWLD to lose the blue badge as for other disabilities but it does happen - sadly."
And from Victoria -
"Could this local charity in Wokingham provide advocacy support? promiseinclusion.org/about-us/
I have found this very interesting article about this issue on Learning Disability Today: learningdisabilitytoday.co....
This is interesting: 'Earlier this month the local government and social care ombudsman found that Lancashire County Council denied a man with Down's syndrome a blue badge without ever assessing him in person.'
So could the parent complain to her local government and social care ombudsman?"
They also suggested calling our helpline to see if they can support you with an appeal.
Thanks
Sarah
Definitely ask your MP for support.
We had problems renewing my son's blue badge 2 years ago. He was moved from DLA to PIP and received the enhanced mobility award and tax exemption. We thought it would be a straight forward renewal but the council would not renew it without supplying healthcare reports and all manner of proof of disability. My son had had a blue (previously orange) badge since about 1996. With all the lockdown stuff we decided not to pursue the badge and it ran out. Recently we have been going out a bit more and after a difficult incident (seizure) in a supermarket decided to readdress the problem. Having to get my son of 15-16 stone in an almost unconscious state past all the disabled parking and the parent child parking way down the car park made me realise how unfair the system had become. We have now applied but refused to supply all the invasive objectifying demands for reports. Having previously had the blue badge and having enhanced mobility I believe the council is acting unreasonably with their demands. I believe that the criteria is being manipulated to stop renewals for those with learning difficulties, epilepsy and such. It should be campaigned against. For an automatic blue badge the demand in England is that 10 points are awarded for descriptor (e) in planning and following journeys. If 12 points are awarded (eg descriptor (f) ) nothing is put into descriptor (e) because the maximum points have been awarded. In our case the criterion for c,d,e and f could be met but you wouldn't get 40 points out of 12! The way the DFT and councils are interpreting the rules are flawed, wrong and unfair. The PIP assessments show that the assessment award points in increasing amounts due to severity of difficulty. Picking out one lower assessment and demanding that is the only acceptable way to receive automatic blue badge is wrong. Looking at the consultation paper on this system I note that 12 points was going to be the standard and that Wales and Scotland give badges to those with 12 points automatically. I can understand a lower point score being acceptable but not if 12 points is not acceptable. On the consultation paper it is stated that if someone has a helper it negates the problem and there is then no psychological difficulty. That sounds like a comment from someone who has not had real experience of the difficulties. I believe this is totally political and designed to stop deserving cases getting blue badges because of the fear that too many will apply. I am sure if enough obstacles, assessments, reports are demanded many will give up. This injustice should be challenged.
Couldn’t agree more it’s a constant battle and your right, their hope is people will just give up, which is often the case!!! It needs to be challenged by MENCAP or similar organisation. as it involves so many people with learning disabilities. We just applied since hidden disabilities was included, my son is 47, and like most were turned down. I appealed with some help telling them how disgraceful it was that he wasn’t eligible all his life because he could walk even though he couldn’t go out on his own, and now when he was eligible he was still denied. We were awarded it but will have this battle again soon. We really needed this when he was much younger.
Hi, I have just joined this forum solely with the intention of adding my voice to this topic. My adult daughter lost her Blue Badge because of descriptor f in the pip decision making, too.I was reading around the subject before chancing upon this forum. I don't know if you are all aware, but in Wales and Scotland, people with 12 points under descriptor f are automatically entitled to a Blue Badge. How unfair this is, that the whole system has now become a postcode lottery.
I also found an article that showed HUGE discrepancies in the amount of people with learning difficulties (approx 25-30%) versus physical ones (over 75%) that were awarded Badges. This is after the rules were changed to become more inclusive. It really is frustrating. I have decided to try and get ours again after a two year gap.
I don't have a mountain of evidence but I have a great desire to right the wrongs that we, all to often just accept. Mencap please understand this is a huge problem and people are simply not alerting you to it. My daughters friends have lost their badges too.
Just adding an update. I'm doing this so others can hopefully get some understanding of the process. I emailed my local county council today, and said we had failed in our previous application due to falling under descriptor f instead of e. They are posting me a form (mysteriously called "part d") which i fill in for the Occupational Therapist to look at.
Here is the form. It is 10 pages long, but not all of it is to be filled in. Some of it is for people with physical disabilities. Three pages directly deal with descriptor f. I am showing the pages for others on the forum who may wonder what the form looks like.
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.....Page three.
The form states "evidence" must be provided ( top of first page).
Not sure if it means letters from medical professionals or if it means write a detailed answer under each question.
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Pages are not visible, just to make you aware.
Hi 49twister, i thought so too, then realised i could tap on the photo and zoom in with expanding fingers, hope this helps.Seems Wales and Scotland have more common sense than England. Its disgusting we have to give the same evidence over again for the councils when we already jumped hurdles for PIP, carers have enough on their plate without mountains of more paperwork!!
Really hope Mencap can make the powers that be see how ludicrous and descriminatory the rules are here.
Hi thanks but there doesn’t seem to be a picture. It’s just a blank space where picture should be with the words Page 3 at the bottom. I’m possibly not connected to receive photos as I have noticed this before. Do you know what I might need to do?
Also, I have been reading around the subject and the "evidence required " is in addition to all the questions. So now I have to beg people to write letters to support the blue badge appeal. I don't know about you guys, but my autistic adult with epilepsy and learning difficulties doesn't have any professionals involved in her care. All I can do is ask the g.p (and get charged £25 if they agree to do it) or maybe her daycare providers. There IS no one else.
