People who automatically get a Blue Badge
You automatically qualify for a Blue Badge if you're aged 3 or over and at least one of the following applies:
- you receive the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- you receive a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) because you cannot walk more than 50 metres (a score of 8 points or more under the ‘moving around’ activity of the mobility component)
- you're registered blind (severely sight impaired)
- you receive a War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement
- you have received a lump sum benefit within tariff levels 1 to 8 of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation) Scheme and have been certified as having a permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking
- you receive the mobility component of PIP and have obtained 10 points specifically for descriptor E under the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity, on the grounds that you're unable to undertake any journey because it would cause you overwhelming psychological distress.
If you have any score other than 10 points under descriptor E in the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity of PIP, you may still be eligible for a Blue Badge, but you do not automatically qualify. This includes if you have a higher score of 12. You'll have to provide evidence to demonstrate your eligibility, which will be assessed as part of your application.
You'll need to provide evidence of the criteria you meet.
Learn more about who automatically qualifies for a Blue Badge (mygov.scot).
People who may get a Blue Badge
You may be eligible for a badge if one or more of the following applies:
- you cannot walk at all
- you cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
- you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
- walking is dangerous to your health and safety
- you have a life limiting illness, which means you cannot walk or find walking very difficult and have a SR1 form
- you have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but cannot operate pay-and-display parking machines
- you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child always needs to be accompanied by bulky medical equipment
- you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child must always be kept near a vehicle in case they need emergency medical treatment
- you're constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks
- you struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
- you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others
- you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
- you frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces.
You'll need to provide evidence of the criteria you meet.
Learn more about who else can get a Blue Badge (mygov.scot).
Risk in Traffic Blue Badge
You, or someone you care for, may be able to get a Blue Badge if you have diagnosed mental disorder or cognitive impairment where it is difficult to control behaviours that put you or others at risk in traffic.
To apply for a Blue Badge for this reason, you'll need to show us:
- you have a diagnosed mental disorder
- your safety or other people's safety may be at risk during journeys
- that other ways of preventing the risk have not worked.
We'll need information from your healthcare professional or social worker professional to show this.
Blue Badges for children under 3 with specific medical needs
You may be able to get a Blue Badge for your child if they're under 3 and they have a specific medical condition that means they always need to have bulky medical equipment with them.
Your child could get a Blue Badge if:
- they always need the equipment
- it cannot be carried around easily
- they need to be near a vehicle in case they need to be treated in the vehicle
- they need to be taken somewhere else quickly where they can be treated.
You'll need to provide us with a letter from a healthcare professional with:
- details of the child's medical condition
- the equipment, its size and portability
- the necessary treatment your child needs.
Organisations
Your organisation may be able to get a Blue Badge if you provide care and transportation for disabled people in Renfrewshire who need a Blue Badge.
Organisations like residential care homes, hospices, or local authority social services departments can apply for a Blue Badge.
Taxis, private hire operators and community transport operators are unlikely to get an organisational Blue Badge as their primary business is not the care of disabled people.
Your organisation should have a clear need for its own Blue Badge, rather than using the individual Blue Badges of the people being transported.
If you use the badge when there are no passengers in the vehicle who need a Blue Badge, you could be fined up to £1,000.
A senior member of your organisation should apply and include an organisation stamp or letter-headed paper as part of the proof.