Have your say on blue badge parking

Overview

Summary

Following requests from resident blue badge holders, Hackney Council is proposing to introduce personalised disabled bays in Hackney and amend the current companion badge parking permissions. The aim is to:

• better protect disabled parking for residents who most need it, and
• make parking for other blue badge holders simpler to understand.

Why are we proposing to make these changes?

Disabled bays

For a number of years, Hackney Council has received complaints from residents who have been assigned a disabled bay, in instances where they have returned home to find their bay occupied by another blue badge holder’s vehicle, and are unable to park close to home.  Many of those affected have asked for these bays to be personalised so that residents can have greater confidence that they would remain free when they were not parked in them.

Companion badge

The companion badge was introduced in 2005 to tackle blue badge fraud and theft. As it is vehicle specific, it has no real value in comparison to the blue badge and can be used in place of the blue badge to park in some bays types across Hackney.

However, companion badge holders have told us that the current rules around where and how the permit can be used are very complex, and difficult to understand. As a result, we are proposing changes to where companion badges can be used to make it simpler to use.

What is being proposed?

Personalisation of disabled bays

Hackney’s parking service is proposing to implement personalised bays for all blue badge holders who meet the current criteria for a disabled bay, please download consultation booklet for further information on the eligibility criteria for personalised disabled bays. If disabled parking bays are personalised, only the vehicle registered to the personalised disabled parking bay will be able to use it. All other blue badge holders will not be able to use these bays.

What will this mean for blue badge holders with existing bays?

If there is support for the personalisation of disabled bays all bay holders will be able to apply for their existing disabled bay to be personalised.

• Existing bay holders who had their bay installed on or after the 12 June 2017 will be able to apply for and have their bay personalised without the need for a re-assessment of their mobility.
• Those whose bays were installed before 12 June 2017 under our old qualification criteria will need to undergo and pass a new mobility assessment against our current criteria before their bay is personalised.
• During the consultation, there will be no change to the current process, which means no existing or new disabled bays will be personalised.

The following criteria will determine if a disabled bay is personalised, reassigned or removed:

If I apply and don’t pass the new assessment, could I lose my bay?

No - we will not remove any disabled bays from existing owners, if the applicant holds a valid blue badge and continues to live at the address. If you don’t meet the new criteria, your bay will remain as a general-use disabled bay.

What impact will personalisation have on applications for new disabled bays?

If the proposals are adopted, all new approved disabled parking bay applications will lead to a personalised bay being installed. Residents will need to apply for a companion badge for the vehicle linked to the personalised disabled bay. Please download consultation booklet for further information.

What will happen to general-use disabled bays that aren’t registered to a user, like those in town centres?

Bays that are not registered to a user will remain as general-use bays, which will be available for all blue badge holders to use.

Will you be personalising disabled bays on estates?

Yes – if a blue badge holder meets the criteria, their bay will be personalised.

Changes to the companion badge parking permissions

Parking Services are proposing to change the current companion badge parking permissions, which will give holders the same parking rights as resident permit holders, with the added benefit of being able to park in unassigned disabled bays in their home parking zone. This means that if someone is parked in their personalised disabled bay, the permit holder will have alternative parking options available to them without having to display their blue badge. Please download consultation booklet for further information.

Residents will no longer be able to use a companion badge to park across Hackney or on single and double yellow lines in their home parking zone. To park in these places residents must use their blue badge.

Companion badges will still be a free permit and last as long as the blue badge, which is up to three years. Blue badge holders will still be able to park elsewhere in Hackney using their badge with no requirement for badge holders to display their clock unless parked in a disabled bay with a time limit or on single and double yellow lines.

For further information, please download the consultation booklet.

Why your views matter

We would like to hear your views about how we can improve blue badge parking. We also want to hear about your blue badge parking experiences, whether positive or negative to understand how our current policy is working. We would like you share your ideas as we value your input.

The consultation started on Monday 13 August and ran for 12 weeks closing on Monday 5 November. 

What happens next

What happens next?

All timeframes are subject to change. Due to high number of responses, approval  has been delayed. Moving forward, any further updates will be communicated. 

How we use your feedback

We will not be able to reply to you individually, but we will consider your comments before making a decision about the proposals. Please note that we can only accept one response per person.

To respond to this consultation, you will need to provide your name and postcode. You do not need to give your personal contact details, but doing so will help us to analyse the results of the consultation more thoroughly and will allow us to inform you of the final decision.

Hackney Council is a Data Controller under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We hold the information given to us for the specific purpose of processing and managing parking consultations only. Under the GDPR any information you provide may be disclosed to other organisations in order for this local authority to perform its duty to protect public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information you have provided for prevention and detection of fraud. It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.

You can read more information about this, and also about your Data Protection rights in line with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 by going to www.hackney.gov.uk/privacy. This includes how to contact the Data Protection Officer, how long your information is held, and how we process your personal information. Printed copies of the Council’s Privacy Notices can be provided on request.