Help me settle an argument over Blue Badge/Private land

interstellaflyer

Bit of a discussion going on at work at the moment regards Blue Badge scheme and private car parks, under what Acts are the requirements to display a Blue Badge in a private car park un-enforcable?

Quentin

The blue badge scheme doesn't apply on private land. End of.

interstellaflyer

Quentin wrote: »

The blue badge scheme doesn't apply on private land. End of.

Yes I know that, I wanted the name of the specific Act/s that back this up.

Quentin

There is no law saying you must display a badge on private lane.

jackieblack

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-responsibilities-in-england

Info on where blue badge holders can park from p15-23

Stroma

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Yes I know that, I wanted the name of the specific Act/s that back this up.

There is no such act as parking on private land is unregulated, so there is no legislation that covers it. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 basically covers keeper liability, so it doesn't cover this either. The Equality Act 2010 covers disability no matter where it is in the UK

interstellaflyer

Stroma wrote: »

There is no such act as parking on private land is unregulated, so there is no legislation that covers it. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 basically covers keeper liability, so it doesn't cover this either. The Equality Act 2010 covers disability no matter where it is in the UK

Cheers, it was The Equality Act 2010 that I was after, it has been mentioned in a lot on here in threads that relate to not displaying a blue badge, I just forgot the name of the Act I was looking for.

HO87

There is no enactment that renders the use of blue badges on private land unenforceable per se.

Te legislation that enacted the scheme was s.21 of Chronically Sick & Disabled Persons Act, 1970 and at that time it applied only to public roads. It was extended to car parks administered by local authorities when the scheme - left in the hands of the same local authorities to design - was established in 1971. There is no provision (save in very particular circumstances permitted in Scotland by the Disabled Persons Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009) for the scheme to cover private land whether it is a car park or whatever. Simple as.

That is not to say that a landowner cannot use it as a means of identifying genuinely disabled persons using areas he has set aside in his car park for their use. Whether he may effectively argue that doing so is reasonable and fulfils his duties under the Equality Act to provide reasonable adjustment remains very much to be seen.

He will also need to be able to argue that the rather simplistic and narrow measure of mobility (or lack of) required to gain a blue badge is broad enough not to exclude a significant group of disabled persons to whom the provision of special parking areas would represent the "reasonable adjustment" the EA requires - despite their not having a blue badge whether that be simply by way of level access, wider spaces, better and brighter lighting or reducing the distance they have to travel.

My mother suffers from Macular Degeneration as well as COPD. She had a blue badge until April 2011 when the scheme was tightened up and hers was not renewed. Her condition didn't miraculously go away and nor did her need for short, safe, level and well-lit access to shops or wherever else she went. She now runs the gauntlet and has to avoid some stores because their car parks are now operated by PPC's.

andy13

"The Equality Act says a disabled person is someone with "a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities". Examples include cancer, diabetes, HIV, multiple sclerosis and heart conditions; hearing or sight impairments, or a significant mobility difficulty; and mental health conditions or learning difficulties."

As your mother has a sight impairment, is she being unlawfully discriminated against?

HO87

andy13 wrote: »

"The Equality Act says a disabled person is someone with "a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities". Examples include cancer, diabetes, HIV, multiple sclerosis and heart conditions; hearing or sight impairments, or a significant mobility difficulty; and mental health conditions or learning difficulties."

As your mother has a sight impairment, is she being unlawfully discriminated against?

That is, of course, the $64,000 question. In my view I have little doubt but she is extremely unwilling to pursue matters fearing that by doing so she will be "labelled". There must be many people in exactly the same position.

Stroma

I would go as far as saying that having the requirement for a blue badge on private land is actually abuse of the blue badge scheme in itself. Because obviously the handbook says its for council car parks and on street parking only.