Guidance

Disability, accessibility and blue badge statistics: quality report

Updated 11 January 2024

Applies to England

About this release

This document supports the latest annual transport related disability and accessibility statistics. Detailed data tables are available from the website.

For detailed commentary please see the annual statistical release. This publication covers England only.

About the transport, disability and accessibility statistics

This statistical release presents information on transport related disability and accessibility statistics in England, drawn from a variety of data sources. Official statistics are produced to the high professional standards set by the Code of Practice for Statistics. Those that have been assessed by the Office for Statistics Regulation as fully compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics are designated as Accredited Official Statistics.

Statistics that are not produced by an organisation listed in Section 6 (1) (a) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, or in the Official Statistics Order 2023, fall outside of the Official Statistics process.

Accredited Official Statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. For more details, see the Accredited Official Statistics Policy.

Quality of the transport disability and accessibility data

The transport related disability and accessibility statistical release is produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. This report outlines some of the quality aspects of the data.

Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

These statistics cover a period that included nationwide restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Coronavirus has had a wide impact on UK society and economic activity since March 2020. As these data are affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, this should be taken into account when comparing them with previous time periods.

Primary data sources

National Travel Survey

The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a continuous household survey which collects detailed information on personal travel within Great Britain. It is used to look at the travel patterns of different groups as well as long term trends.

The 2022 survey had a response rate of 31%, and an achieved sample size of around 8,100 individuals in around 3,600 households. These individuals participated fully in the NTS by providing information through an interview and by completing a 7-day travel diary. Further details on the survey are available.

Disability definition

From 2018 a person is considered to have a disability if they report any physical or mental health condition or illness that lasts or is expected to last 12 months or more, and which limits their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. This is consistent with the core definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010, and complies with harmonised standards for social surveys published in August 2011. Some people classified as disabled and having rights under the Equality Act 2010 are not captured by this definition. This includes people with a long-standing illness or disability which is not currently affecting their day-to-day activities.

Note that people living in care homes and other places such as community living environments are not captured through the survey and it therefore may underestimate disability prevalence and the prevalence of different impairments, particularly in the older age groups.

Walking definition

The NTS definition of walking includes the use of non-powered wheelchairs but excludes powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

Estimates from the NTS are Accredited Official Statistics.

National Highways and Transport Network Public Satisfaction Survey

The National Highways and Transport Survey (NHTS) is an annual survey of residents in local authorities across Great Britain. The survey was set up in 2008 to collect public perspectives on, and satisfaction with, highways and transport services. The number of areas which choose to participate varies from year to year.

For those areas which do participate, a representative sample of private households is selected and sent a paper questionnaire in the Summer (June to August). Alternatively, recipients are provided with the option to fill in the survey online.

Disability definition

The disabled population in this survey are classified as those who have self-reported that they:

• have a long-term illness, disability, or infirmity which limits their daily activities

• are a Blue Badge holder

People living in care homes and other places such as community living environments are not captured through the survey, which may impact on the satisfaction rates for the disabled.

The 2022 survey was conducted in 111 local authorities, with a response rate of 22.8% and an achieved sample size of 93,140 households. Although the methodology used ensures the data should be representative at LA level, because not all LAs participate the results may not be representative at national level. The 2022 survey covers 54% of local authorities in Great Britain. Table 1 shows the coverage of the survey from 2008. Further details on the survey are available.

Table 1: NHT coverage from 2008

Survey year	Coverage Across Great Britain
2008	16%
2009	38%
2010	45%
2011	35%
2012	36%
2013	35%
2014	38%
2015	49%
2016	52%
2017	55%
2018	55%
2019	54%
2020	53%
2021	54%
2022	54%

Estimates from the National Highways and Transport Surveys fall outside the Official Statistics process.

Transport Focus

Transport Focus is the independent watchdog for transport users and as part of its work it carries out a series of event-based passenger satisfaction surveys. These measure passengers views of individual journeys that have taken place on the day they were given a questionnaire (or invitation to participate online). The areas and/or operators choosing to participate can vary from year to year. The areas and operators choosing to participate can vary from year to year. Further information is available for Transport Focus.

Disability definition

The disabled population is classified as those who have responded that they are affected by any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses expected to last 12 months or more.

Estimates from the Transport Focus passenger satisfaction surveys fall outside the Official Statistics process.

Family Resources Survey

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a continuous household survey which collects detailed information on income from all sources as well as detailed personal and household characteristics. The data is collected via a face-to-face interview on a representative sample of private households in the United Kingdom. The FRS is considered to be one of the main data sources for information on disability prevalence.

The year ending March 2022 survey had a response rate of 26%, and an achieved sample size of around 16,000 households. Further information on this survey is available.

Disability definition

A person is considered to have a disability if they report any physical or mental health condition or illness that lasts or is expected to last 12 months or more, and which limits their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. This is consistent with the core definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010, and complies with harmonised standards for social surveys published in August 2011. Some people classified as disabled and having rights under the Equality Act 2010 are not captured by this definition, such as people with a long-standing illness or disability which is not currently affecting their day-to-day activities.

People living in care homes and other such as community living environments are not captured through the survey and it therefore may underestimate disability prevalence and the prevalence of different impairments, particularly in the older age groups.

Estimates from the FRS are Accredited Official Statistics

Blue Badge statistics

Blue Badge Scheme Eligibility

There are 2 main categories for eligibility for a Blue Badge, those that are “eligible without further assessment” (previously known as the automatic criteria) and those that are “eligible subject to further assessment” (previously known as the discretionary criteria).

Organisations are also able to apply for a Blue Badge and are subject to their own criteria.

‘Eligible without further assessment’

People who may be issued a badge without further assessment are those who are more than 2 years old and:

• receive the Higher Rate Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• score 8 points or more in the ‘Moving Around’ activity of the Mobility Component of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• receive a War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement

• are registered blind

• have been awarded a lump sum benefit at tariff levels 1 to 8 of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and certified as having a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking

• receive the mobility component of PIP and score 10 points specifically for descriptor E of the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity, on the grounds they are unable to undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress

Applicants are required to provide proof that they satisfy one or more of the above criteria and must agree to identity and residency checks before their local authority can issue a badge.

‘Eligible subject to further assessment’

People who may be issued a badge subject to further assessment by the local authority are those who are more than 2 years old and:

• drive a vehicle regularly, have severe disability in both arms and are unable to operate or has considerable difficulty in operating all or some types of parking meter

• have been certified by an expert assessor as having an enduring and substantial disability which causes them, during the course of a journey, to be unable to walk or to experience very considerable difficulty whilst walking, which may include very considerable psychological distress

• may be at risk of serious harm when walking or pose, when walking, a risk of serious harm to any other person

In addition, children under the age of 3 may be eligible for a badge if they, on account of a condition:

• must always be accompanied by bulky medical equipment which cannot be carried around with the child without great difficulty

• must always be kept near a motor vehicle so that, if necessary, treatment for a condition can be given in the vehicle or the child can be taken quickly in the vehicle to a place where such treatment can be given

In these cases, applicants are required to undergo mobility assessments in order to determine their eligibility, unless it is self-evident that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria.

Reforms under the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2011, which came into force in 2011, require that the decision to issue a badge to an individual applying because of a ‘permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or considerable difficulty in walking’ must be confirmed by an independent medical assessor.

Organisations

Badges are issued to organisations for use in a motor vehicle or vehicles when they are being used to carry disabled people who would themselves be eligible for a badge.

An ‘organisation’ is defined as an organisation concerned with the care of disabled persons, to which a disabled person’s badge may be issued in accordance with section 21(4) of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.

For more information please see Chapter 5 of the Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England).

Blue Badge Digital Service Database

The Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) or its predecessor the Blue Badge Improvement Service (BBIS) has been available to all local authorities in England since 1st January 2012. It provides a number of core services, including a central database of all Blue Badges on issue, key information on badge holders and its implications on statistics.

The data downloaded from the BBDS for DfT includes figures for:

• number of badges held at the end of the given period by eligibility criteria
• number of badges issued in the given period by eligibility criteria
• number of badges cancelled by reason (for example, lost or stolen)

Coverage

The BBDS covers all local authorities in England, as well as those in other parts of the UK. Figures for Wales and Scotland are published by the respective devolved administrations.

Strengths of the data

Response

Data on the numbers of badges held and issued was available for all local authorities in England in the year ending March 2023.

Between 2008 and 2013, where data quality was poor, some data was imputed to produce aggregate totals at the England or regional level. This involved estimation using figures that had been supplied in previous years, or responses to other questions in the survey where a partial response had been provided by the authority. Table 3 provides further details.

Table 3: The proportion of the annual estimate accounted for by imputation

Year	Held (% imputed)	Issued (% imputed)
year ending March 2009	39%	42%
year ending March 2010	41%	38%
year ending March 2011	37%	28%
year ending March 2012	36%	29%
year ending March 2013	28%	0%

There were some transitional issues in the financial years ending 2014 and 2015 when moving from the survey-based method to using BBIS.

Consistency in reporting

Since the financial year ending 2016, when the BBIS and its successor BBDS data was exclusively used for the numbers of badges held, issued and cancelled, quality issues owing to differences in management information systems have been resolved.

Limitations

Time series

The numbers of Blue Badges held, issued or cancelled will be impacted by changes to BBDS (and its predecessor BBIS), and comparisons to estimates prior to the introduction of or changes to BBDS (and its predecessor BBIS) should be treated with caution, particularly at regional and local authority level.

From 2019, data about Blue Badges held were collected directly from the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) rather than the previous Blue Badge Improvement Service (BBIS) which was in place from 2012 to 2019.

This change meant we were not able to collect consistent data on the number of badges issued. As a result, it is not possible to compare the number of Blue Badges held and issued from the year ending March 2019 onwards with figures for earlier years.

In addition, the change in the Blue Badge Digital Service caused data on cancelled badges to be unavailable for the financial year ending 2019 and the financial year ending 2020.

BBDS mechanisms

Data on badges issued is based on when a badge’s ‘status’ is updated to ‘issued’. It is the responsibility of each individual local authority to update the status of each issued badge.

Failure to do so may result in under-reporting on how many badges have been issued, which could have an impact when comparing Blue Badge figures across years.

From 2019 local authorities are also able to indicate as part of the online application process that an applicant is ‘not for reassessment’ where that applicant has already been assessed in previous years and where that applicant’s disability is unlikely to improve or likely to get worse.

Where badges are used

Data is based on the local authority the applicant resides in, which may not be the area in which the badge is issued.

Badges held by underlying health condition

The data indicates under which eligibility criteria Blue Badges were issued, but it is not possible to distinguish the specific underlying health conditions for which badges are issued or held in any greater detail.

Data quality

Data is provided on request to DfT in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.

The data is then compared to previous years and explanations are sought from the BBDS administrators where the changes are large or unexpected.

Other dimensions of quality

Response rate

Data has been available from all local authorities in England since the move to BBIS.

Respondent burden

BBDS is an administrative system and as such, respondent burden is minimal.

Accuracy

Using the same information management system for the processing of Blue Badge applications ensures good consistency of estimates between local authorities. However, changes to BBDS will impact changes over time.

Other data sources

Further information on the quality and methodology of the other data sources found in this report can be found by visiting the links in the statistical release relating to those data sources.

Office of Rail and Road (ORR)

Disabled Persons Railcards (DPRC) enable disabled passengers to get a discount of a third off adult travel on the National Rail network in Great Britain. ORR collect this data as part of their Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) compliance monitoring. Further information on disabled persons railcard statistics is available.

Passengers assists and passenger assistance booking are made through the National Passenger Assistance Booking System managed by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). ORR collect this data as part of their Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) compliance monitoring. These statistics do not include unbooked assistance such as ‘Turn up and Go’ assists. Further information on these statistics is available.

MCA disabled passenger satisfaction survey

This survey is carried out annually by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and DfT to find out from maritime passengers their experience of transport using ships, and how effective the provision of assistance has been when using ferries or cruise ships.

The survey ran between 31 October 2022 and 18 November 2022. The results of this survey should not be compared to any previous years results as there are significant differences in the methodology. Further information on this survey is available.

CAA Aviation Consumer Survey

This survey is carried out by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on an biannual basis, and covers UK consumers’ behaviour and attitudes towards commercial aviation, including some data on accessibility and the experience of disabled passengers. Further information on this survey is available.

Bus statistics

Bus statistics are derived from a number of sources, with the main source being the DfT annual Public Service Vehicle (PSV) survey of over 500 local bus operators which provides data on passenger journeys, vehicle miles, revenue and costs, and vehicles and staff.

Concessionary travel statistics are derived from a DfT survey of Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs). It provides the most up to date statistics on the number of older and disabled concessionary passes, the number of concessionary bus journeys, and the payments made by TCAs to reimburse bus operators for concessionary fares.

Further information on these statistics is available.

Taxi and PHV statistics

The Taxi and Private hire Vehicle (PHV) statistics are compiled from responses to the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle survey. The survey is issued to all licensing authorities in England and Wales. The survey asks authorities to provide data on their licensed vehicles, their licensed drivers and their licensed operators. The survey also captures details on the number designed to be accessible for disabled people. Statistics relating to the use of taxis are available from the National Travel Survey. Further information on taxi statistics is available.

Prosecutions under the Equality Act 2010

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) captures data on prosecutions, including offences committed by taxi and private hire vehicle drivers and operators in relation to sections 168 and 170 (assistance dog refusals by taxi and PHV drivers), and section 165 (wheelchair user discrimination by taxi and PHV drivers) in England and Wales. Further information on these statistics is available.

Population

Population data is usually taken from The Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates. However, for the latest year, data is taken from the 2021 Census first results.

Disabled population

Figures for the disabled population entitled to a Blue Badge without further assessment are calculated on the basis of several sources:

• the population receiving the higher level of the Disability Living Allowance is taken from the Department for Work and Pensions cases in payment caseload. For 2023, these figures are taken in February 2023

• the population receiving the standard or enhanced mobility award for Person Independence Payments is taken from the Department for Work and Pensions cases in payment caseload. For 2023, these figures are taken in April 2023

• the population receiving War Pensioners Mobility Supplement is supplied by the Defence Statistics team in the Ministry of Defence. For 2023, these figures are as at 31 March 2023

• the registered blind population is taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre 2020 report of people registered as blind and partially sighted. These figures are updated roughly every 3 years, so 2020 figures are used for the year ending March 2023.

Retired population

Figures for the retired population are estimated on the basis of State Pension caseload data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which provides the number of people claiming State Pension.

For 2023, these figures are taken in November 2022. Prior to the year ending March 2020, the retired population estimate was based on the number of people over State Pension Age. However, due to recent and upcoming increases in the State Pension Age, the new method is considered a more consistent and accurate approach to estimating the retired population for the purposes of this statistical release.

Disability benefits

There are 3 main types of benefits you might be able to receive if you have a disability and live in England:

• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Attendance Allowance

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Contact details

Transport: disability, accessibility and blue badge statistics

Email localtransport.statistics@dft.gov.uk

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