Government proposals to end Blue Badge abuse welcomed

24/01/2008

New proposals announced by the Transport Minister Rosie Winterton to clamp down on Blue Badge abuse have been welcomed by the UK`s leading disabled motorists charity, Mobilise.

 

The proposals, which have been put out for consultation, include:

    •     Extending the reach of the scheme, for example, ensuring more parents of severely disabled children are eligible for a badge;

    •     Giving parking attendants the power to confiscate on the spot Blue Badges that have been stolen, forged or are being fraudulently used;

    •     Improving the security of the badge design to prevent forgeries;

    •     Creating a system of national data sharing, to identify Blue Badge cheats.

The consultation also asks if individual local authorities should be given the opportunity to run the scheme in a way that responds to local circumstances.

 

Mobilise Director of Policy and Campaigns, Helen Smith, says; "The Blue Badge scheme desperately needs updating and I welcome the proposals from the Minister which aim to help combat fraud.

 

"The scheme is now so abused that it sometimes feels like more people have a Blue Badge than don`t. We need to reduce the abuse and misuse and make it a scheme that really benefits the lives of disabled people. However, I do have reservations about the proposal to allow local authorities to run the scheme in a way that responds to local circumstances as it could cause a lot of confusion."

The Blue Badge consultation ends on 17 April 2008