Sandwell Council's crackdown on blue badge fraud reaps national reward
A council's crackdown on blue badge fraud has won a national award.
In the last 12 months Sandwell Council and APCOA Parking Enforcement has undertaken 10 successful prosecutions, alongside issuing 18 warning letters and cancelling a suspected false application.
As a result of their efforts the organisations were named as the winners of the Local Authority Risk Managers’ award for Partnership Working, 'for effectively implementing a scheme to target and address blue badge misuse in Sandwell'.
Under current legislation a blue badge can only be used when the badge holder is present. It is a criminal offence for the badge holder or anyone else to misuse a blue badge and doing so could lead to a £1,000 fine and its confiscation.
Sandwell Council’s deputy leader Councillor Paul Moore said: “Blue badge fraud impacts the most vulnerable members of the public with disabilities or mobility issues. When a badge is misused this can result in disabled people being unable to find suitable parking, leading to missed appointments, an unwillingness to go out and ultimately, isolation from our community.
“If you know, or suspect, someone may be misusing a blue badge let us know. Swift action will be taken.”
In March last year Rooqia Malik, aged 48, of Farm Drive, Birmingham, was given a 12-month conditional discharge, ordered to pay £300 costs and a £26 surcharge for parking in a disabled bay in the city centre using a cancelled card issued to her dead father Abdul Malik.
As of March 31 last year there were 2.57 million badges in England. Figures show that misuse of disabled badges is estimated to account for over 16 per cent of all fraud identified by councils.
Suspected blue badge fraud in Sandwell should be reported via email to fraud_investigation@sandwell.gov.uk or call 0121 569 2650.
