Back at the end of 2019, the DVLA made a change to accessibility to their Blue Badge scheme. A Blue Badge allows you to park in disabled bays, on double yellows and a few other situations. This was traditionally a scheme for people with physical disabilities only, but at that time was opened out to people with ‘hidden disabilities’ too. This included me.
My Blue Badge is due to expire at the end of September, and I got an email asking me to reapply. There appears to be a difference in the application procedure, and, as per, nobody in the press is reporting it.
In ‘19, DVLA asked for a copy of my psych assessment. I gave them this, and, to the best of my recollection, and the notes I made, there were no questions asked. They contacted me asking for an admin fee, and after this was paid, they sent me the Badge.
This time, the application form asks for the details of your PIP award. They want to see what you were scored for the ‘moving around’ section of the assessment. I dug this info out, inputted it, and it appears I meet the threshold, although the system doesn’t tell you what that threshold is. I can only assume there would be some people who were legitimately using a Blue Badge, but now don’t score enough and will not have their badge renewed. This, after half of DLA claimants seeing their money reduced or withdrawn altogether after applying for PIP.
Of course, these changes to Blue Badge are not being reported on at all, just like the changes to concessionary bus passes for disabled people, another form of support that has been taken away from many disabled people like myself. There’s nothing in any online news discussing this. I’m wondering if it’s time to approach news agencies myself. As for my new Badge, I’ll have to wait and see if it turns up before my current one expires.
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