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Annexe A – Guidelines on Disabled Parking

The following document is intended to provide guidance to departmental administrators regarding car-parking provision for staff with severe mobility impairments.

• Criteria
• Disabled staff with more than one place of work/travel between departments
• Students
• Visitors with disabilities
• Complaints
• Medical Advice

Criteria

Disability

Any member of staff who holds a current Blue Badge has automatic entitlement to a parking space as close to the accessible entrance of their main place of work as is possible. A space will be marked out, and will be available to the member of staff in question on each day that they are at work. Departments will have responsibility for displaying a ‘Disabled Parking’ sign on the days on which it is needed. For example, in the case of a Blue Badge holder working Monday to Wednesday each week, the sign would be put out on those days, on Thursdays and Fridays the sign would not be put out and the space would be available to any permit holder, similarly if the Blue Badge holder is on annual leave or sick leave.

The member of staff would be issued with a University parking permit in addition to a space. For a car to be legally parked in a disabled space both a current Blue/Orange Badge and a University parking permit would have to be clearly visible in the windscreen. Neither the space nor the permit will count against the departmental allocation.

Applications from Blue Badge holders should be authorised by departments and then forwarded to Ed Wigzell who will make arrangements for a permit to be issued by Security Services and for a space to be marked out.

Applicants who are eligible for a Blue Badge but do not hold one, would be required to apply for a Blue Badge in order to qualify for a space. In the meantime, a peak-time permit should be issued or, at the discretion of the department, a departmental space made available for use.

The requirement of holding a badge under the Blue (formerly Orange) Badge scheme was felt to be the most equitable and appropriate criterion to apply to the allocation of spaces for disabled staff. It is an internationally-recognised scheme for the assessment of mobility impairments in the context of car-parking requirements and is consistently applied across the country by experienced assessors who are independent of the University.

Temporary mobility impairments

Staff suffering from temporary conditions affecting their mobility, (e.g. broken leg, recovering from recent operation) should be enabled to drive to work for the duration of the impairment. It is envisaged that, in general, these will be staff who have been declared fit for work, but who are unable to use public transport or a bicycle with ease. It is expected that this would be best dealt with by issue of a temporary permit for use in a departmental space. For departments without departmental spaces an application for a temporary (if necessary, additional) peak-time permit should be submitted.

Other medical conditions

Staff with any other medical or physical conditions that make it difficult for them to use public transport or a bicycle should continue to be accorded a high priority for a permit.

Disabled staff with more than one place of work/travel between departments

A disabled member of staff who works at two or more departments or sites on a regular and frequent basis should be allocated with a space at each place of work. The temporary signs will maximise space usage in cases where the days worked in each location are regular.

Where a member of staff visits, or works at, an alternative department or site only occasionally, the responsibility for arranging a parking space for each visit lies with the member of staff.

Students

Students who hold Blue Badges and who need to use a car in order to get to their department or other buildings within the University will be afforded similar benefits as staff with Blue Badges. The precise details will depend upon the frequency of attendance at any given site.

Where a student needs to visit a department or library only once or twice per week, they should first investigate the possibility of regularly booking a departmental space. Disabled students should take precedence over any other type of visitor, but not contractors or maintenance workers. At the home department, if more frequent attendance is required, a space will be marked out. The space will be managed by the department and must be reserved primarily for the use of the student during Full Term, i.e. the student should not be expected to book the space during this period. Outside Full Term, the space may be used as a general departmental space, although, should it be required by the student their booking would take precedence over any other user.

Other students with disabilities which affect their mobility, but which do not qualify them for a Blue Badge, may apply for exemption to the rule that students are ineligible for parking permits.

Visitors with disabilities

It is expected that a disabled visitor would contact the department to be visited to enquire about parking facilities. Ideally any literature sent out by departments to visitors, should clearly state whether disabled parking is available, the location of the space and whether is it necessary to book the space.

Complaints

Complaints regarding the assessment of applications should be directed, in the first instance to the department. If the staff member then feels the response to be unsatisfactory their next recourse should be to the Director of Estates Services, who may then consult with the Chairman of the Buildings and Estates Sub-Committee.

Medical Advice

Medical input into disputes over permit applications on grounds of mobility impairment or other medical condition is available, at the request of either the department or the member of staff, from the Occupational Health Service. The Occupational Physician will make any necessary arrangements to obtain medical reports in confidence and with informed consent from the individual’s usual medical adviser(s). It is not expected that the Occupational Health Service would be involved in the routine assessment of eligibility for spaces.

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