The Blue Badge Scheme varies slighty between, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. You should contact your local council for information about the scheme in your area. This information pertains mainly to the scheme in England and then more specifically St Helens in Merseyside.

The Blue Badge Scheme is an arrangement of on-street parking concessions for people with severe walking difficulties to drive or be passengers in a car and then park closer to their destination. People who are either registered severely sight impaired (Blind), who receive the higher mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), who receive War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement or applicants who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness or progressive cancer that has been confirmed by a health professional have an automatic eligibility to a Blue Badge.

If a person does not fall into one of the automatic eligibility categories they may still apply for a Blue Badge subject to further assessment if they are:

• A person over two years of age and they have a severe disability affecting both arms, and cannot use or find it difficult to use parking meters.
• A person over two years of age and are unable to walk or have considerable difficulty walking due to a permanent and substantial disability.
• A child under the age of two that has a medical condition requiring bulky medical equipment or has a condition that requires immediate access to a vehicle, in order to receive treatment for that condition in that vehicle, or require it to immediately take them to a place where they can receive treatment for that condition.

Changes will be made to the Blue Badge in this coming year. These changes will include:

• A change in the maximum fee that can be charged for a Blue Badge raising from £2 to £10.
• The design of the Blue Badge will be changed to make it harder to tamper with or forge.
• The number of disabled children and service personnel with conditions that will qualify for a Blue Badge will increase.

You can read more about these changes on The Department for Transport website. 

To apply for a Blue Badge or to renew a Blue Badge in St Helens you can obtain an application from Wesley House, by downloading it from the council’s website or by phoning the contact centre on 01744 456789. DASH occasionally has a limited number of application forms available. If you would like DASH to help you fill in the form, you can ring us to make an appointment on 01744 453 053.

Along with the application form, applicants are required to provide:

• Proof that they live in St Helens Borough in the form of a copy of a utility bill, rent book or council tax bill dated within the last three months.
• Confirmation of their identity in the form of a photocopy of their birth/adoption certificate, ID card, valid driving licence or passport.
• Two recent passport photographs with the date and applicant’s name printed and signed on the back (unless the applicant is terminally ill).
• The fee in the form of a cheque or postal order if you are posting you application back to the council. If you wish to pay in cash you must call into Wesley House or your nearest library.

If you do not fall into one of the automatic eligibilty categories most often you will be sent for a medical to deem whether you are entitled to the Blue Badge. Sometime after the medical the decision makers will notify you as to whether or not you have met the criteria for the Blue Badge.

Once you receive your Blue Badge:

You should display the Blue Badge where it can be clearly read through the windscreen of your vehicle. The front of the badge should face upwards, showing the wheelchair symbol.

You should be sent a parking clock with your Blue Badge. The parking clock must show your time of arrival and be displayed next to your Blue Badge when you park either:

• on yellow lines
• in other places where there is a time restriction

If there is a time restriction, the clock should be set to show the quarter hour period during which you arrived.

When no parking concessions are being used, Blue Badges should be removed from view.