Application for a Blue Badge for a Child

1. What is the Blue Badge Scheme?

The Blue Badge scheme provides a national range of parking concessions for disabled people with severe mobility problems who have difficulty using public transport.

The scheme is designed to help severely disabled people to travel independently as either a driver or passenger by allowing them to park close to their destination. In the case of a child with a disability, a parent or carer can apply for a badge to assist with travel.

This procedure relates to children who reside in the Hull area only.

2.Eligibility

Automatic Eligibility

The Children and Families Disability team assesses eligibility for a blue badge using the Department for Transport criteria.

People automatically qualify for a blue badge if they are over two years old and meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • Receives the Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance;
  • Is registered blind;
  • Receives a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement.

If the child meets the above criteria, no assessment is necessary although parents or carers will need to provide documentation to support the application.

It is still possible for a child to qualify for a blue badge if they do not meet the above criteria, however, they will be subject to an Children's Social Care Assessment by a social worker. This assessment will include discussion by the social worker with other professionals involved in the care and or treatment of the child, for example, GP, consultant, school and so on. Parents or carers permission will be sought prior to such consultation taking place.

Assessing a child for a Blue Badge

Children over two years old may also be eligible for a badge if the following applies:

  • They have a permanent and substantial disability which means they cannot walk, or which makes walking very difficult.

If an application is made for a badge for a child under this criterion, evidence will need to show:

  • The child is unable to walk (being unable to take a single step, or need to use crutches); or
  • The child has a physical disability that means they are unable to walk very far without experiencing severe discomfort (meaning either pain or breathlessness, and considers the distance, speed, length of time taken or manner in which they can walk); or
  • The physical effort needed to walk could damage the child's health (serious chest, lung or heart conditions. In the case of epilepsy, evidence would be needed to show that any fits were brought about by the effort required to walk).

Assessing a child under two years of age

Children under the age of two may be eligible for a badge if they fall within either or both of the following descriptions:

  1. A child who has a condition that requires that they be always accompanied by bulky medical equipment which cannot be carried around with the child without great difficulty;

    The list may include:
    • Ventilators;
    • Suction Pumps;
    • Feed pumps;
    • Parenteral equipment;
    • Syringe drivers;
    • Oxygen administration equipment;
    • Continuous oxygen saturation monitoring equipment;
    • Casts and associated medical equipment for the correction of hip dysplasia.
  2. A child who has a condition that requires that they must always be kept near a motor vehicle so that they can, if necessary, be treated for that condition in the vehicle or taken quickly in the vehicle to a place where they can be so treated.

Examples of highly unstable medical conditions that mean children who have them need quick access to transport to hospital or home may include:

  • Tracheostomies;
  • Severe epilepsy/fitting;
  • Highly unstable diabetes;
  • Terminal illnesses that prevent children from spending any more than brief moments outside and who need a quick route home.

3. How to apply for a badge

The Blue Badge Scheme is administered by the local authority via the Children and Families Disability team.

The Children and Families Disability team duty social worker can be contacted on 01482 221261. The duty officer will take the child's details, and one of the following steps will be taken:

  1. Where there is automatic eligibility as described above, the duty social worker will request proof of receipt of Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of Disability Allowance, and a fee of £2.00. The parent/carer will be asked to collect the badge which can be issued at either of the Children and Families Disability offices;

    The office in the East of the city is based at Bellfield House, Middlesex Road, Hull HU8 0RF, telephone 01482 715155. The office in the West of the city is based at The Children's Centre, 70 Walker Street, Hull HU3 2HE, telephone 01482 221261. Both offices are open from 8.30a.m to 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30 a.m to 4.30 p.m. on Friday;
  2. Where an assessment is required, the duty social worker will take the child's details, and an Children's Social Care Assessment will be carried out by a social worker within seven days. The social worker must contact other professionals involved with the child in order to make a detailed assessment and recommendations;

    The social worker undertaking the assessment will visit the home and discuss the application and see the child. Parents/carers will be asked to provide information about their child's disability. The social worker will then complete the assessment and share the content with the parent/carer, and a copy given to the family. The assessment must be signed by the social worker, the Team Manager and the parent/carer. The parent/carer will be advised of the recommendation and asked to collect the blue badge at which office is the most convenient. A blue badge can only be issued if the child meets the criteria.

4. Renewing the Blue Badge

The badge will require renewing every three years. The criteria and assessment procedure is the same as described above.

5. Appeals Process

Should a blue badge request be refused and the child deemed not eligible, the assessment must contain the reasons why. If the parent/carer wishes to appeal against the decision of the social worker, they can do so in the first instance by contacting the Team Manager to discuss.

Should the parent/carer remain dissatisfied, they may make a formal complaint by contacting the Complaints Department, Children and Family Services, Brunswick House, Strand Close, Hull, telephone 01482 616159.