Disabled car badge misuse tackled

(copied from BBC website)

A £55m scheme to help stop the misuse of blue disabled parking badges in England has been announced. One in every 200 badges is stolen, and some London boroughs are dealing with hundreds of cases a year of stolen, forged or borrowed and misused badges.

The government says it is looking to give councils new powers to confiscate stolen or forged badges. It is also extending the badge scheme to disabled Armed Forces personnel and those with temporary mobility problems. Others set to benefit are young children with disabilities and people with severe mental health problems.

A £10m national data-sharing system will be established by councils to make sure stolen or forged badges from outside their areas can be detected. The Department for Transport is also looking at new ways to make the badges harder to forge, including barcodes that can be read through windscreens.

The badges, introduced 37 years ago, are held by about 2.3 million people in England and allow almost unhindered parking across Europe. Use of one by an able-bodied person carries a fine of up to £1,000. Despite the deterrent, councils say the problem of stolen and forged passes is now "rife" and they need tougher powers to question drivers and seize illegitimate permits.

Mary Murphy, from Camden Council in north London, said fraud was a big problem and there were cases where badges had been photocopied or sold. "People are willing to buy them because obviously there's a saving if you use a blue badge and you don't have to pay for parking," she said.

There have been reports of badges being sold on the black market for up to £1,500. Transport Minister Paul Clark said: "It is time to get tough and stop blue badge abuse and vehicle crime. "Alongside this we need to make sure everyone who needs a badge receives one."

Under the new scheme, the assessment for eligibility for a badge is to be standardised and carried out by dedicated medical assessors. Until now, GPs have authorised the issuing of badges but some say they would be happy for that responsibility to be taken out of their hands. Mr Clark told BBC Radio's Five Live it was important to make sure disabled parking spaces were available for people who genuinely needed them.

Celine Llewellyn Jones has had her blue badge stolen twice forcing her to use expensive taxis and rely on others to do her shopping until she received a replacement. "My car is an extension of my legs and without being able to park, it's virtually useless," she told BBC Radio's Five Live.