"Blue badge permit 'shocking disparity' revealed" - BBC report

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

People with non-visible disabilities such as autism or Parkinson's disease face a "shocking disparity" when applying for a blue badge parking permit, a BBC investigation has found.

Scores of councils have lower approval rates for non-visible disabilities applications compared to those for physical impairments.
Non-visible disability applications began in England in August 2019.

The Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) said it would review their impact.

[Bmblbzzz]

I would have thought Parkinson's was visible? Maybe not under all circumstances.

[Ralph Ayres]

I didn't find it a particularly well researched or written article and it did rather overuse the "shocking disparity" quote. It could equally have said that some boroughs are too keen to give out the permits to people who don't really need them or rightly or wrongly don't qualify. The underlying problem is possibly a lack of clarity about the purpose of the badges. Is it to allow holders to park closer, or to guarantee a place, or to make parking more affordable, or to make sure there is enough space around the car to get in and out, or any combination of these and other reasons? The article claims it's only the first, but people quoted mentioned other reasons.