Badge "number" format: new style Blue Badges

[Flymo]

Though I would never recommend on-street vigilantism, it is sometimes helpful to understand the information on a Blue Badge in case you are considering reporting potential abuse of a Badge.


New style Blue Badges have a badge "number" in the format:
aaaaaa b ccccdeeeef


aaaaaa is a unique reference for the Badge - I believe this is six randomly generated characters, but it might contain a reference to the issuing Local Authority

b is zero on my Badge - it might be the number of replacements issued

cccc is the month and year of the Badge holder's birth, so 0190 is January 1990 (or 1890 if we're going for the world age record)

d is the Badge holder's gender: X is male, Y is female

eeee is the month and year of the expiry date

f is R if the badge is reviewable on expiry (a new mobility assessment may well be required), otherwise it is blank


I think someone may need a biology lesson with the gender marker, as males are XY and females are XX. The gender marker is Badge holder's declared gender, so a transsexual's badge may be issued in the gender they are or have transitioned to.

The bar code on the back of the Badge contains ccdeeee in Code 39 format according to my scanner (the year of birth, the gender marker and the month and year of the expiry date).


It's the year of the Badge holder's birth and the gender marker that may help if you are trying to determine whether the Badge belongs to anyone in the vehicle. If you see 28Y and the Badge is being used by a young man, you know the Badge belongs to an elderly female. Don't forget that it is quite legitimate to park with a Badge so long as you are collecting the Badge holder.

[Paul]

d is the Badge holder's gender: X is male, Y is female

I think someone may need a biology lesson with the gender marker, as males are XY and females are XX. The gender marker is Badge holder's declared gender, so a transsexual's badge may be issued in the gender they are or have transitioned to.

I think they'd have fun with my gender marker, I'm categorised as a XXY male! (search Klinefelter's Syndrome for more info).

[Flymo]

That's something I don't have to Google, as I've travelled with some people who are not XX or XY. Your voice in this area is far more authentic than mine, though I wish I understood why some people make such an issue out of people who do not fit nearly into the biological and social expectations of gender.

[Eddie864]

Wow a second person with Kleinfelters. Paul is yours fairly mild because the 11 year old little boy a few doors down from me is very severe. He has terrible learning difficulties and behavioral problems although he's a lovely kid. His prognosis is fairly poor as far as adult development goes I understand. Really sad.

[Paul]

As it's a syndrome people have a range of varying outcomes.

At 11 I didn't know I had it, I was diagnosed aged 30 we found out during fertility testing.

I was behind at school and slow to learn things. Aged 11 I had a mental age of 7/8.

Aged 16 when I started an engineering apprenticeship I had a mental age of 12/13, again aged 18 my mental age was 14/15.

I suffered all my life in silence not knowing the 'real' me. Not knowing there was help out there if only the doctors/parents believed me.

My parents should have picked up on the clues (small hands, small feet, reaching puberty late @ 19, no facial or bodily hair, Aspergers type demeanour), I would have got help with muscle gain and maybe educational assistance and they could have extracted viable sperm. But by 30 none was left, and so we adopted.

Sexual confusion is still prominent and as it was only recently that being told having these thoughts an feelings is normal for someone like me who us 'Intersex' I had a weight lifted from my shoulders.

I dropped out of the apprenticeship as I was struggling, I dropped out of university too for the same reasons - but I didn't know why I was struggling, I was doing everything I could to help myself.

Thankfully aged 24 (mental age of 18/19) I went back to University and completed a degree in 4yrs (instead of 3) in engineering.
I now work as a respected Aeronautical Engineer.
My mental age now thankfully matches my real age, 33 (34 in June)

I wouldn't wish what I've been through on anyone. I'd love to meet others in my situation though.

[Mags4]

Hi Flymo

Interesting reading just a quick question though you state

"f is R if the badge is reviewable on expiry (a new mobility assessment may well be required), otherwise it is blank"

Does that mean if there is no "R" it will be renewed without a new mobility assessment, why I ask is I do not have HRM or Enhanced pip, been advised to apply, but have a blue badge because of back condition that makes walking very painful (have had this condition for years but the last 3 years or so it has deteriorated (my consultant told me it would do this eventually and unfortunately there is nothing he can do except pain relief)?

Many thanks
Mags

[catlover]

Hi Flymo

Interesting reading just a quick question though you state

"f is R if the badge is reviewable on expiry (a new mobility assessment may well be required), otherwise it is blank"

Does that mean if there is no "R" it will be renewed without a new mobility assessment, why I ask is I do not have HRM or Enhanced pip, been advised to apply, but have a blue badge because of back condition that makes walking very painful (have had this condition for years but the last 3 years or so it has deteriorated (my consultant told me it would do this eventually and unfortunately there is nothing he can do except pain relief)?

Many thanks
Mags

Not necessarily. Remember that all authorities administer the blue badge scheme slightly differently, although there is guidance (non statutory). Neither the authority that issued my badge nor the authority that i work for put an R on to indicate reviewable on expiry. Every time your badge expires it is a new application. It may be that your particular authority will look at your previous application and decide that no further mobility assessment is needed but that is not guaranteed.

[Flymo]

As catlover says, the lack of an "R" doesn't mean the Badge is renewable without a further mobility assessment. Every time you apply for a new Badge you have to demonstrate that you meet the criteria for a Badge, which might involve another mobility assessment.

In fact, I've never seen a badge with an "R" on it - I wonder if this is something that councils ultimately decided not to use.


Mags - do consider applying for PIP, as the money could make quite a difference. There's quite a bit of information and discussion in the sticky PIP thread. If you're going to undergo an assessment, why not make it a PIP one? If you are given 8 points or more on "moving around" (walking ability under 50m), you are entitled to a Blue Badge without further assessment.

[removed]

I think it is a very dangerous precedent being set - by publicising information (which is already freely available) means that people may report Blue Badge users who they think is misusing the badge. I am a Blue Badge holder and look 'normal' and am able to walk however my knees hurt and am on codeine painkillers as a result.

In my opinion it is for traffic wardens and the police to regulate the Blue Badge scheme as leaving it to the public risks the wrong people being reported the ones who look 'normal' and able to walk. Unless someone has concrete proof that the badge is being misused e.g. such as being told by the individual that he/she is misusing the badge.

I thought about reporting an individual who ran out of a Blue Badge displaying car and sat there watching he then comes back with his mother at a very slow pace and she was using crutches. Had I just left and reported that individual after seeing him run out of the car I would have caused undue duress to his mother as she is clearly in need of a Blue Badge. In the end it paid off to see who would come back to the car.

[beau]

When my Parents in Law were alive and I was able to drive I always used one of their blue badges if I was transporting them. They kept them and only gave them out to whoever was running them around.