My wife is sight impaired, and we've moved counties. Do we need to contact the new council?

Peppercorn525

Hi everyone! Just looked at all the Blue Badge chat as we've just moved Counties. 
I have a question about disability registration, if I may? My wife is registered as 'severely sight impaired' with Norfolk Council, but we are now in Suffolk. Do we need to contact the local council to register with them or do we just leave things as they are??
Thanks in advance.

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

I'm not quite sure tbh I'm also registered but not moved 

I would give your new council a call and ask it is probably worth doing something in case you require their service at anytime 

chiarieds

Hi @Peppercorn525 - & welcome to the community. Thinking that you would need to get your wife's next Blue Badge from your new county council, I thought I'd better check online. In the following link under 'If your situation changes,' it does say you tell your local council if you change address. Please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-responsibilities-in-england/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-responsibilities-in-england

i'd read that as ring Norfolk Council to let them know. I imagine they'll say to contact your new council too, a question I'd ask.

Peppercorn525

Thank you both. We'll do that - both Norfolk and Suffolk C Cs

chiarieds

You're very welcome.

poppy123456

Confused by the advice given in that link. A blue badge can be used in any part of the UK and remains valid in the same Local Authority if you move house.

Having moved house myself 3 times since i've had my BB in 2013 and never had to change address for BB purposes. A few months before your BB is about to expire you simply reapply in your new Local Authority.

Peppercorn525

Cheers, poppy. My enquiry really related to my wife's sight impairment and whether her registration in that respect needs to be 'moved' from Norfolk (where last registered) to our new Couny Council.

MarkM88

Yes it’s advised you do. 

This link will answer your question - https://www.sightadvicefaq.org.uk/newly-diagnosed-registration/registering-sight-loss/transfer-registration

Peppercorn525

Thank you, Mark. Much appreciated.

Ross_Alumni

I'm glad that you've been able to receive responses from other members @Peppercorn525, and hopefully contacting your new authority about her sight loss registration goes well for your wife. 

I looked into this at a time where it seemed possible that I would be moving somewhere under a different local authority, and I found the available information to be generally quite lacking and unclear. From what I could gather, it seemed as though I would have to contact the new local authority about my registration as it was only valid for the local authority in which the registration was given.

This would make sense as well because what you can get for being registered can vary depending on the local authority and region you are in. For example, in some regions having a sight loss registration can help you to get a travel pass which entitles you to free bus and train travel, whereas in other regions you can only get discounts.

It's a complicated one to get your head around, but yes contacting the new LA would be the best course of action. If a new registration is required, hopefully they will be able to transfer it over from your previous LA or fast track the process, as I'm aware it can take a while to sort out a new registration.

Peppercorn525

Thanks, Ross. Appreciate your input.