A toddler who cannot walk, move, or feed himself has been denied a Blue Badge because he is not considered disabled enough, according to his mother. Charlotte Jenner and Charlie Sears from Paddock Wood, Kent, have applied for the scheme, which would give them access to designated parking spaces, to help transport their son Ronnie.
The two-year-old has Phelan-McDermid syndrome, a genetic disorder caused by a microdeletion in one of his chromosomes, and hypertonia, a condition where muscles remain tight, stiff, and resistant to movement. As a result, he is disabled, immobile, and cannot walk, crawl, roll, or transition from lying to sitting because his brain does not communicate well with his limbs.
Daily Struggles Without a Blue Badge
Ronnie can eat but cannot move. Weighing 18kg, he is heavy for his age, requiring his parents to lift him or use bulky equipment to mobilise him. After struggling to safely park and extract Ronnie from the car for months, Charlotte applied for a Blue Badge from Kent County Council (KCC) in June last year. To her disappointment, it was declined.
The project manager said: "It feels like a battle to get equal accessibility for my child." Undeterred, Charlotte lodged an appeal, including evidence from Ronnie's GP and physiotherapist regarding his condition and immobility. Again, it was refused.
A spokesperson for KCC said they understood the decision was "disappointing" but stated that eligibility must be assessed against Department for Transport guidance and legislation.
Council's Eligibility Criteria
Charlotte says a member of KCC's Blue Badge team explained that for children under three to be eligible, the child must be on palliative care or require life-saving equipment such as breathing apparatus or feeding tubes. After arguing Ronnie's case, the authority agreed to an in-person assessment by an occupational therapist. Charlotte brought her son and a folder of medical letters detailing over 100 scheduled appointments. The assessor was sympathetic, but the final decision was made by a panel, which refused to issue a badge.
Charlotte, 27, said she was "absolutely fuming" that the refusal came despite Ronnie's medical professionals advocating for him. She said: "It basically said, we recognise Ronnie's disabled, but he's not disabled enough. That is the long and short of what they said. I'm having to fight my local council for basic accessibility for my disabled son. If all of Ronnie's medical professionals in his life say he needs a Blue Badge, what position does my council have to say no?"
Ronnie's condition is lifelong. "He will have the same diagnosis today as when he's seven, to when he's 40. His entire life, it is not going to change. So that is why I argued you can't apply a blanket policy when I am telling you my scenario is different."
Impact on Daily Life
Without a badge, every day is a battle for the family to attend medical appointments, park safely, and even use Ronnie's walker, which weighs 14kg. The walker cannot be transported and used outside the home without access to a widened parking space. Charlotte said: "There are times I haven't been able to attend appointments because I can't find a safe space to park and get Ronnie out of the car. His nursery can't leverage any of the equipment like the walking frame because I can't get it there, so that actually hinders him being able to progress walking."
It was only after submitting a subject access request that Charlotte learned how restrictive the assessment had been. The parents want the council to recognise their need for a Blue Badge and for Ronnie to be assessed "as an individual, not as part of a tick-box exercise".
Family's Fight for Equality
Charlotte and Charlie work full-time while juggling multiple medical appointments for their son. Ronnie, who turns three in February, has a paediatrician, community paediatrician, hearing specialist, development specialist, occupational therapist, and physiotherapist, but none can provide an accessible parking permit—only KCC's Blue Badge department can.
Charlotte said: "Ronnie cannot choose whether he is disabled or not, that choice was made for him. Right now my council is preventing me from including him in everyday society, from giving him the same opportunities and from making him feel included. I should just be able to include him in society as every other child should: dropping him off at nursery, popping to the shops, taking him to an appointment, going out for the day. I shouldn't have to worry and plan ahead about how safe I'm going to be or whether I can take part in that."
The family is determined to fight for Ronnie and other disabled children's access to a Blue Badge. The council advised using parent and child bays, but the couple say these are not always available, are often occupied, and do not offer the same accessibility as a Blue Badge, such as parking on double yellow lines.
Their MP, Mike Martin (Lib), described the situation as "deeply concerning". He said: "Families with disabled children shouldn't have to go through such prolonged battles simply to secure basic access and dignity for their children. I have been pressing the council for months to review this case and to implement a fairer, more compassionate Blue Badge system. However, Kent County Council, under the leadership of Reform's Linden Kemkaren, have repeatedly rejected my calls for change. This is another example of Reform's chaos and utter incompetence."
Council Statement
A KCC spokesperson said: "We understand the council's decision is disappointing. However, KCC must assess Blue Badge eligibility against the national Department for Transport guidance and legislation. This provides a very clear set of eligibility criteria for children under three which were not met at initial assessment, or appeal, in this case. KCC considers all Blue Badge applications for children under three as special cases, but also has a responsibility to be fair and consistent when issuing Blue Badges. The presence or absence of any condition does not in itself determine badge eligibility at any age. In this case, the applicant was offered multiple assessments, including a face-to-face assessment, to ensure that all relevant information was considered, including observing how the family get about. The outcome of assessments are always communicated in writing with applicants. When children reach three, the eligibility guidance allows for a greater scope in assessing how children mobilise independently, and we have advised that KCC is always happy to reassess children at this time. If the Department for Transport changes the eligibility criteria KCC will follow this guidance."
