Sandwell leads the way in tackling Blue Badge fraud
22 July 2024
Sandwell Council’s work to tackle
Blue Badge fraud has been acknowledged with a national award.
Sandwell Council along with APCOA Parking Enforcement 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.
Over the last 12 months the team has undertaken 10 successful prosecutions, alongside issuing 18 warning letters and cancelling a blue badge application where it was not believed to be valid.
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 confiscation of the badge.
Councillor Paul Moore, Sandwell Council’s Deputy Leader, 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.”
As of 31 March 2023 :
- 2.57 million Blue Badges were held in England (an increase of 5.7% since March 2022).
- 4.6% of the population in England hold a Blue Badge.
According to CIPFA’s (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) most recent Fraud and Corruption Tracker, blue badge fraud is estimated to account for over 16% of all fraud identified by councils and was highlighted as one of four main fraud types which councils faced.
Anyone wishing to report a suspected blue badge fraud within Sandwell can do so by reporting by email or calling 0121 569 2650 to leave a message.
