Crackdown will leave criminals feeling blue

22 October 2008

New powers to enable councils to confiscate stolen or forged Blue Badges came into force this week.

The review of the disabled parking scheme will also see the creation of a £10M national data-sharing system to ensure councils can easily identify forged or stolen badges from outside their area.

Blue Badge security features will also be upgraded, including barcodes which can make the badge harder to forge.

Local transport minister, Paul Clark, said: ‘Two-thirds of councils tell us abuse of the scheme is a major issue. It is time to get tough.’

• Nine councils have been awarded Centre of Excellence status in recognition of their innovative work in administering and enforcing the Blue Badge scheme. These are Manchester and Bolton as joint COE for north west England, Rotherham for Yorkshire and Humberside, Bournemouth for the Southwest, Southampton for the south east, Birmingham and Coventry for the West Midlands, and Wandsworth and Kensington & Chelsea for London.

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