Joint councils’ action against Blue Badge fraud

The Blue Badge scheme is designed to help disabled people park closer to their destination by displaying a Blue Badge on their front windscreen when parked. 

A national Blue Badge Day of Action was held on 26 May to clampdown on misuse of the disability parking scheme.  

Civil enforcement officers carried out spot checks in car parks in the city centre to check that the badges were being used by the authorised person and in the correct way.

In total 54 people had badges inspected and the majority were being used in accordance with the scheme. However, five people were found to be abusing the scheme, with two people prompting further investigations including one badge seized, and three people issued with Fixed Penalty Notices of £70.

Cllr Jane Bryne, cabinet member for a connected, clean city said: “The Blue Badge scheme is important as it ensures our city is accessible to disabled people.

“We’re proud to be part of this national day of action to support genuine Blue Badge holders. Abusing the system by using badges not belonging to you, counterfeit badges, or deceased people’s badges for personal gain is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Blue Badge holders who were spoken to welcome the initiative and gave positive feedback about the action being taken to ensure badges were used appropriately.