Commentary on Sections Part 7: Miscellaneous and General Section 94: Power to inspect blue badges
227.Section 94 amends section 21 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 which established the disabled persons parking badge scheme (“the Blue Badge Scheme”). The scheme provides certain parking concessions for disabled people. The effect of the provisions introduced by section 94 is that police, traffic wardens, local authority parking attendants and civil enforcement officers will have the power to require blue badges issued under the scheme to be produced for inspection. Apart from the police, these bodies only have this power when carrying out their other parking enforcement functions.
228.Section 94 requires anyone in the vehicle, or anyone who appears to the enforcement officer to have been, or to be about to get into a vehicle displaying a disabled person’s parking badge, to produce it for inspection. It creates an offence of failing without reasonable excuse to produce a badge when required to do so by any of the authorised persons. On conviction the offence is punishable by a fine not exceeding level 3 (£1,000) on the standard scale.