£853 million scammed through blue badge misuse each year

A new study has revealed that unscrupulous drivers are scamming close to a billion pounds each year from UK councils.

The study, carried out by Wilmington Millennium, found that there were 2.35 million Blue Badge holders last year, accounting for 4.3 per cent of the population. However, the Audit Commission estimates that at least 20 per cent of badges are being used fraudulently, meaning that currently close to half a million Blue Badges (470,000) are being used dishonestly - scamming at least £853 million worth of parking charges from local councils.

The Audit Commission found that the most common types of fraud included: people continuing to use the Blue Badges of friends or family members that have passed away; drivers continuing to use a Blue Badge that has expired; and Blue Badges being used that have been lost by or stolen from the original holder. Last year there were 15,6852 reports of lost or stolen badges.

Currently only 59 per cent of councils have a policy in place to prosecute offenders. Moreover, a Freedom of Information request by Wilmington Millennium discovered that only 18 per cent of respondents had a ‘specific’ policy in place to identify deceased identity fraud. However, a further 56 per cent said that they had access to deceased data through schemes such as Tell Us Once or through data matching exercises with other governmental departments if identity fraud is suspected. This means that 14 per cent of councils have no way of checking whether Blue Badges of the deceased are still being used.