Please provide any and all legislation and connected documentation for the renewals process you use for the blue badge (Disabled parking). This is to include the relevant sections of law which you use to decide on length of award time, and which assessment takes precedence i.e. your own independent one or the DWP PIP one.
The Council is committed to administering the Blue Badge scheme in accordance the legislation laid down by parliament and the guidance produced by the Department for Transport (DfT).
Full details of both can be found in the guidance documentation which can be read via the link below:
Where a person applies under the automatic eligibility criteria of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – the Council’s decision would be in accordance with the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) award in the first instance.
Every case is considered on an individual basis; Local Authority discretion may be given where a person has not been awarded the required level of PIP but has been able to provide additional evidence to support their application for a Blue Badge.
Can you also include the documentation you use that shows your decision makers apply all Tribunal Rulings within their remit. Lastly please confirm that you either comply with or do not comply with the Tribunal ruling where previous awards are taken into account and not unilateral altered with disregard for them, and you comply with the said tribunal ruling where as you supply a letter of explanation including the medical evidence you base your decisions on.
Where an applicants award for PIP is approved following Tribunal intervention, the Council base the decision on the Tribunal ruling – details of which would need to be presented to the Council by the applicant.
The appropriateness of the Council’s approach to the Blue Badge scheme is supported by the rulings of the Local Government Ombudsman following those occasions when customers have challenged the Council rather than a Tribunal.