If you want to support people with disabilities including hidden disabilities, mental and physical to keep our lifeline to independence, will you please take 20 seconds of your time to sign this vital petition? We need your public support behind us to strengthen our voices so that we can be heard. We all get older one day, and when we were young we couldn't imagine what our future health would be like; but despite our health conditions today; we don't want to be amongst the forgotten, many of whom already feel invisible and overlooked by our fast paced digital society, we still want to live active and meaningful lives despite everything, for as long as we can whilst still being eco-friendly...can you help us try to achieve this? Thank you for taking the time to read our petition...and thank you sincerely for your support.

Blue badge holders include people with various forms of disability including hidden disabilities, vulnerable and isolated people who frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces, face abuse when trying to board public transport or those who may have a terminal illness, which means they cannot walk or find walking very difficult.

Increasingly many of us do not  feel safe travelling by public transport,  with violent hate crime against disabled people up 41% as reported by the Independent leading up to the pandemic.

Many are not aware that blue badge holders are often people with hidden disabilities and complex health conditions who may not register themselves as disabled for various reasons, nor do they claim financial support, they include people who volunteer and work on low wages despite their conditions.

Many older people and those with hidden disabilities live in poverty and make only short trips to our nearest supermarket or post office and could not otherwise visit friends and family, for those that have family and friends...

The fact is many of us are completely isolated with no family and support so our ability to exercise our human right to mobility is literally keeping us alive as it is proven mental health and depression can lead to premature deaths. We have very real and challenging conditions with a higher risk of infection, having access to a vehicle helps us to keep our independence and dignity longer without having to rely on the care system and some human contact by visiting friends and family is beneficial to our mental health, where we cannot walk long distances. It is simply put our lifeline which many take for granted and it has been so throughout the pandemic, enabling us to buy shopping and protect ourselves from COVID19 by also avoiding the risks of public transport.

From the 25th October 2021 Blue badge holders in poverty, with challenging mental and physical disabilities will be left isolated and without our main lifeline to independence our vehicle, due to there being no direct Government help available to us to go green after the ULEZ zone expansion. 

Only some people are eligible for a TFL car scrappage scheme for their non ULEZ compliant vehicles but the £ amount is so low it will certainly not cover the cost of a green car.

We ask, what kind of a country are we if we can’t provide at least some support to  people with physical, mental, hidden disabilities or the terminally ill who are amongst blue badge holders left without access to transport independence.

Many of us actively support Climate Action but there are few alternatives to a car based on specific disabilities, so we are calling on Rishi Sunak, our Chancellor at HM Treasury and Grant Shapps MP at the Department for Transport to show kindness and compassion, to blue badge holders, for us it is not a choice and our social and community care system is presently insufficient to cater to all of our social care needs which with our cars we manage to somehow do for ourselves. Amongst us are people on health related benefits who transitioned to Pension Credit, living in poverty but not receiving the higher rate component of PIP who urgently need support.

The number of people with blue badges in the UK has been falling since 2018.

ULEZ changes from October 25th 2021 will have a disproportionate impact on blue badge holders, in poverty, suffering with challenging mental and physical disabilities who rely on their cars as a life line.

TFL has already lost unprecedented amounts of revenue from travel fares due to the ongoing impact of COVID19 and the pandemic and TFL clearly does not have the financial resources being one of the only Transport Networks in a world capital city that is self funded/not funded by central government; so our call is to our Government to invest in green vehicles support for blue badge holders.

£12.50 a day charge for Blue Badge Holders to use a non ULEZ compliant car from October 25th 2021 is simply not an option for most.

From the 25th October they are being charged £12.50 a day to use their cars even locally or a few roads away to a grocery store, as the ULEZ zone has been suddenly expanded, this is disproportionately and unfair impacts upon these drivers and blue badge holders who live in poverty and are lonely and isolated.

Violent Hate crime against disabled people

The independent newspaper reported before the pandemic:

“Violent hate crime against disabled has risen by 41 per cent in the last year, figures suggest”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/disabled-hate-crime-rise-41-per-cent-last-year-leonard-cheshire-a9148301.html

Over 7,300 disability hate crimes were reported to the police across England and Wales in 2019/20, yet only 1 in 62 cases actually received a charge.

Safety issues with boarding public transport and abuse

Separately safety issues and difficulties with boarding public transport for disabled people and abuse received can be found across media reports as well as on YouTube.

Blue badge holders including people with these conditions who may not be registered disabled and so not exempt from ULEZ

Conditions of people who may have a Blue Badge but may not be registered disabled or be in receipt of any support benefits:

You may be eligible for a badge if one or more of the following applies:

You cannot walk at all

you cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids

you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes

Walking is dangerous to your health and safety

You have a terminal illness, which means you cannot walk or find walking very difficult and have a DS1500 form

You have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but cannot operate pay-and-display parking machines

You have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child always needs to be accompanied by bulky medical equipment

You have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child must always be kept near a vehicle in case they need emergency medical treatment

You are constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks

You struggle severely to plan or follow a journey

You find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others

You regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control

You frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces

This petition calls on the following people to take responsibility for this:

Grant Shapps MP - Secretary of State for Transport, Department of Transport

Rishi Sunak MP - Chancellor of the Exchequer, HM Treasury

Chloe Smith MP - Minister of State (Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work)

Elizabeth Truss Minister for Women and Equalities 

Boris Johnson MP - Prime Minister

Mayor of London and Chair of TfL Sadiq Khan

Transport Commissioner Andy Byford

Thank you so much

WIILMA COMMUNITY VOICES

www.wiilma.org/community-voices

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Email us with how this issue is affecting you at wiilmacommunityvoices@gmail.com