Rejected petition Include people with hidden disabilities living in Wales in Blue Badge permit eligibility.
In 2019 the Department for Transport ( DfT) expanded the eligibility criteria for Blue Badges to include people who cannot walk as part of a journey without considerable psychological distress or the risk of serious harm for England only. (See references below).
People with hidden disabilities living in Wales cannot apply for a Blue Badge due to lack of permit eligibility.
More details
.For example: Many autistic people experience anxiety. The National Autistic Society states that in England the "expanded eligibility criteria will mean that many more autistic people will qualify for a Blue Badge" . Yet this is in England only.
Knowing of the Blue Badge changes, some autistic people living Wales have attempted to apply for a blue badge however were refused, as this regulation does not apply to Wales.
Research was undertaken for the Department for Transport - "Research to assess Blue Badge eligibility for people with non-physical disabilities" and the Final Report was published in April 2019 which supported the English Regulation
References:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/people-with-hidden-disabilities-can-access-blue-badges-for-the-first-time-from-today.
(https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/blue-badge-changes-come-into-force-today).
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-research-eligibility-for-people-with-non-visible-disabilities
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue, or if the Petitions Committee has considered one in the last year.
Earlier this year, we considered a very similar petition. https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/244987
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards
Rejected petitions are published in the language in which they were submitted