REVIEW OF THE ORANGE BADGE SCHEME

The Orange Badge Scheme in the UK was established under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970. It provides a virtually national arrangement of concessions for disabled and registered blind people regarding on-street parking in Great Britain, except for certain parts of London. Badge holders may also be allowed access to some town centres where vehicle entry is restricted, and may have the use of some off-street parking areas free of charge. The scheme makes valuable contributions to promoting social inclusion and improving quality of life for disabled people. This paper discusses: (1) the criteria for eligibility; (2) the number of badges on issue; (3) abuse and misuse of the scheme; (4) the need to review the scheme; (5) the application of eligibility criteria; (6) local authorities' handling of the scheme; and (7) enforcement issues and their impact on the mobility of disabled people. The paper ends with ten specific DPTAC recommendations. For example, a detailed questionnaire is needed to ensure that badges are issued only to eligible people; it would help local applications made under the discretionary criteria. Applicants with a completed application form should be interviewed by trained local authority staff. Several recommendations refer to responsibilities that local authorities should have.

• Corporate Authors:

  DISABLED PERSONS TRANSPORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE, DEP

  2 MARSHAM STREET
  London,   United Kingdom 
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 12 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Improvements; Law enforcement; Local government agencies; Mobility; Parking; Personality; Persons with disabilities; Policy; Quality control; Tariffs; Urban areas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Centre; Quality; Responsibility
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 6401: Centre; 1726: Disabled person; 1534: Enforcement (law); 9108: Improvement; 192: Local authority; 9105: Mobility (pers); 955: Parking; 173: Policy; 9063: Quality; 2264: Responsibility; 241: Tariff; 8119: United Kingdom; 313: Urban area
• Subject Areas: Policy; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00769958
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Oct 7 1999 12:00AM