Agenda item

The Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding submits a report informing Members of the operation of the Blue Badge Scheme for parking.  The Commission is recommended to note the report and comment as appropriate.

The Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding submitted a report informing Members of the operation of the Blue Badge Scheme for parking.

The following comments were made in discussion on this item:-

·                     The Council’s Occupational Therapists did the medical assessments for discretionary Blue Badge holders.  Information also was sought from the applicant’s own doctor;

·                     The Occupational Therapists were fully qualified and were expected to undertake continuing professional development.  The quality of their work was assessed in a similar way to that of social workers.  For example, trends were identified and reasons sought for variations;

·                     At present, two part-time Occupational Therapists did the assessments, one of whom was agency staff, but it was hoped that a substantive appointment would be made in due course to the vacancy;

·                     Medical assessments were thorough.  The Occupational Therapist assessed the person’s mobility, both in the assessment room and from how they were able to get from the car park to the assessment room.  The Department for Transport provided clear criteria on how such assessments should be conducted;

·                     In reply to questions about whether the Occupational Therapists were skilled in assessing all ailments and recognising the intermittent nature of some conditions, the Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding advised that the Occupational Therapists were only assessing people for Blue Badge scheme eligibility, not for other things.  This meant they made a very specific assessment of someone’s ability to walk and took account of the variability of people’s conditions;

·                     The Occupational Therapists had taken over doing these assessments in 2013, when changes had been made to the scheme.  It was considered that this had resulted in reliable and rounded assessments being made;

·                     Suggestions were welcome for things that could be included in the Blue Badge Mobility Assessment form;

·                     The Blue Badge Assessment Log was used by occupational health staff.  Applicants for a Badge were not expected to self-declare;

·                     The number of Blue Badges issued in 2012 was greater than the number of applications received.  This could be due to applications remaining from the previous year;

·                     The Blue Badge scheme was self-financing;

·                     It had been reported anecdotally that some people who no longer needed a Blue Badge continued to use one.  There appeared to be limited action that could be taken to stop this happening;

·                     Whether a discretionary Blue Badge could be renewed was considered through the same process as a new application.  People in receipt of Disability Living Allowance would automatically be assessed for a new Blue Badge; and

·                     Officers were working with the Council’s Parking Enforcement Team to see if the team’s hand-held equipment could be modified to recognise when a Blue Badge was no longer valid.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding be asked to:-

a)    find out how arterial fibrillation and ischemic heart disease were assessed for Blue Badge eligibility; and

b)    confirm why the number of Blue Badges issued in 2012 was greater than the number of applications received; and

2)    That the Assistant Mayor (Adult Social Care) be asked to investigate what action the Executive could take to prevent people who no longer needed a Blue Badge continuing to use one.

Post-meeting note: Since the meeting it has been advised that the workers undertaking blue badge assessments are Occupational Therapy Care Management Officers, for which an Occupational Therapy degree is not required.  They are overseen by qualified senior Occupational Therapists.