In February 2011 Transport Minister Norman Baker announced a number of reforms to the Blue Badge Scheme aimed at combating fraud within the scheme and also extending Blue Badge eligibility in England.
Background
On 22 March 2010 the Department for Transport published a consultation document which sought views on Government proposals for improving the Blue Badge (Disabled Parking) Scheme. In particular, the proposals are about improving the enforcement regime for the Blue Badge Scheme; extending the eligibility criteria and provision of funding to help local authorities to establish independent medical assessments. The closing date for responses was Friday 2 July 2010.
Proposals for reform
The proposals, which Transport Minister Norman Baker has announced, will begin to come into effect from April 2011. These include:
extending eligibility to more disabled children between the ages of 2 and 3 with specific medical conditions.
wider use of independent mobility assessments to determine eligibility, including where previously that assessment was carried out by a GP; and support for this by giving local authorities control of National Health Service spend on Blue Badge assessments
raising the maximum fee for a badge that local authorities can charge from £2 to £10.
closure of the Blue Badge Advice Line on 30 March 2011 - After this date, any general enquiries about the scheme should be directed to your local authority
introduction of a new electronic badge design intended to be harder to copy, forge or alter.
providing local authorities with powers to cancel badges that have been lost, stolen, have expired or been withdrawn for misuse
providing local authorities with an on-the-spot power to recover badges that have been cancelled and misused.
shared administration between authorities – including an online application facility – resulting in faster renewals, reduced abuse and operational efficiency savings of up to £20 million a year
continuous automatic entitlement to a badge to severely disabled service personnel and veterans who have a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking - removing residency requirements for disabled service personnel and their families who are posted overseas on UK bases
greater monitoring of cancelled, lost and stolen badges.
issue of new, case study based, good practice guidance to local authorities to help them make improvements in scheme administration and eligibility assessment.
You can find out more information at the Department for Transport link below.
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