1 in 20 people have a blue badge?

My mum has one. She's not disabled. Just old age issues. Mid 70s at time of application. I did it with her on computer. By the time I'd put all her elderly mobility issues down, she supplied Dr's letters and prescriptions, she got one from Wyre Council really quickly.

She's too old to claim PIP as over 75yrs old. 100% deserves the badge as she's in pain from bone related issues, needs a walker, has a bursa in hip causing pain, had a new shoulder after a fall, arthritis in ankles, it's a long list ☹️

No problems parking. Her husband is the driver.

Only read the first few posts. Enhanced PIP in the mobility section of PIP doesn't qualify you here. It has to be enhanced specifically in the moving around section of mobility.

We have a similar issue. I applied for a disabled space in 2014 when my husband had a stroke and became immobile. Fast forward to 2018, I asked to have it removed when he passed away. There are seven other disabled parking spaces on my half of our road. All of them were requested mostly for older neighbours who have all passed away. The surviving spouses of three of the users have also asked for them to be removed, but the council won't remove any of them. I can see three of them from my living room window (I work from home) and they are never used. The council has now added two electric charging bays, rather than convert two of the disabled bays.

Not ours - took two years and three applications before DH finally got one last November. He has COPD and a heart condition with an Ejection Fraction of 32. He can only walk a few steps before needing to sit down, and will probably be on oxygen in the next couple of months.

I enclosed his prescription list - it runs to 2 pages - plus lists of his consultants and hospital stays so have no idea why we were turned down. Our local bus doesn't go to the hospital, it takes 2 buses with a walk to the first and also to the second and a walk at the end so it's not possible to use public transport and taxis are expensive.

So no, we didn't just get handed one! And yes, we do have to pay for disabled parking at the hospital but at least we can usually find a spot whereas the regular bays are always full.

I am so sorry so many people are having such a hard time getting a BB! I have one and it was very simple for me; I scored enough points in the right part of my PIP. I ticked a box on my local authority form and sent my PIP report off and my badge came back a few weeks later.

Sorry that was in reply to a PP

Autism and dementia aren't mental health conditions

It's really easy in my area to get a BB.

I'm a wheelchair user and my ex husband decided he was going to get a BB because he missed using mine (when I was present, obviously). He told his GP he was suffering with his back, applied for a badge, GP signed it off. No medical evidence, no medication, no PIP, nothing.

It varies wildly between councils. When I was first diagnosed with ME, I didn't really think about a blue badge. Then I had to try and get one for work ( even though it's a private car park. HR idiots). I was turned down because I didn't have enough evidence because GP diagnosis wasn't good enough. So had to wait two years to get a half hour appointment with a consultant which I was lucky to get bit he supported my application. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have got one.

I do use it but not in every car park.

The pandemic has created thousands of people with ME and/or long COVID. People do not like to admit it, bit it's been an utter public health disaster with many more people now being disabled.

It's not about getting high rate PIP. You need 8 points in "moving around" or 10 in "planning and following journeys". The latter is what most people with mental illness, autism, learning disability etc quality under.

Physically disabled people who do not score 8 points in the moving around section have to provide further evidence as to why they need a badge.

If everyone on higher rate PIP automatically qualified for a BB, there would never be any spots parking available.

I'm retired not on benefits. Have a spinal condition which deteriorated. Every step painful. I applied. Omg it was awful. I photographed the consultants reports. Gave them my GP details who had suggested it. They replied can we have a more recent consultant report. Can you walk more or less than ten steps. You use a walking stick. Can you provide the receipt, proof of purchase of the stick.

This went on for three weeks. I then got an email saying my application was about to expire. You cannot respond to these emails only log in via the council website. My husband found me in tears in front of the laptop one day struggling to provide yet more evidence.

I was stunned when I got an email the day before the lapse. Someone must finally have read the consultant reports and realised it was my spine not my hip that was the issue which is what they had assumed.

You should be okay finding a space. I don't have a problem when I take MIL or mum out. Also you can use P&C spaces if they are free.

How do you know who the BB holder is? Unless you have seen the picture on the back of the pass, you have no idea who is getting out of the car.

I mean it’s not really that surprising giving our aging unhealthy population.

thank you your reply. I am just about to go in to battle with them about this, could do without the stress of this but I am ready for the fight.

Lots of people who have BB can walk. They may have difficulty in doing so, or they may walk slowly ect, they are not all in wheelchairs.

The council are incorrect. Alzheimer’s isn’t a mental
health condition. It is a physical/ structural disease of the brain. Autism is also a physical issue as it arises from arrested development of the brain.

Why has no one helped her to apply for a BB, if she is unable to do so herself?

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/disability-accessibility-and-blue-badge-statistics-2022-to-2023/disability-accessibility-and-blue-badge-statistics-england-2022-to-2023#blue-badge-statistics

Here's the full set of statistics.

Very unfair, makes my blood boil!