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Posted by: Biker1 Aug 22 2015, 07:09 AM

The theft and abuse of blue badges is on the increase.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34020743
Is this a major issue and should we be doing more to prevent it locally?
Personally I think it is heavily abused to a greater extent than we are told and this annoys me greatly.
Is there a method of reporting perceived abuse locally?

Posted by: je suis Charlie Aug 22 2015, 09:38 AM

Report to WBC parking permits office.

Posted by: Biker1 Aug 23 2015, 07:01 AM

Where did you get that info. from, and would it do any good?

Posted by: je suis Charlie Aug 23 2015, 07:04 PM

They are responsible for issuing so presumably?

Posted by: On the edge Aug 23 2015, 09:13 PM

Another way of drawing attention would be to be a good citizen and go across to the vehicle and offer to help the disabled person.....

Posted by: spartacus Aug 23 2015, 11:20 PM

It's true that the WBC parking office issue disabled permits. They are not doctors though, nor are they nurses, nor are they any sort of healthcare professional. They don't don't have access to medical records or history. They are basically administrators that sort through the applications and supporting documentation and issue Blue Badges where criteria is met. They phone up and speak to applicants if there is a query over the detail, but not all applicants are openly wanting to discuss their condition and they have to be sensitive and use discretion over the way they challenge any application (imagine how that would look in the NWN ).

Doctors ultimately issue the authorising certificate confirming that the applicant is mobility impaired, so if there is a question over the validity of Blue Badge issue it should be directed at their health care professional who has either assessed them correctly or incorrectly. I doubt whether you, or even WBC, would get much joy over questioning why a doctor has signed off on a Blue Badge application given data protection rules and patient confidentiality. Sometimes you have to accept that some Blue Badge Holders are genuine, some are playing the system with a minor ailment and some have put undue pressure on a weak doctor or intimidated them into putting a squiggle on a piece of paper....

Remember though that in these enlightened times you don't have to have had a limb missing to qualify as 'disabled'. Even fatties get Blue Badges these days.....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/10583290/Blue-badges-given-to-obese-drivers.html

... personally I think these lazy chubbers should have allocated parking at the furthest point from the shop entrance. Probably the only exercise some of them get when rushing out to get their cream cakes and 5 llitre bottles of diet coke

Posted by: je suis Charlie Aug 24 2015, 04:57 AM

Theft and abuse??

Posted by: spartacus Aug 24 2015, 04:15 PM

My post was more in relation to the abuse which annoys biker and how it is difficult to determine whether abuse is actually taking place. I know that I was nearly caught out when about to shout at someone for parking in a space and running off to a cashpoint when just as they got back to their car and stepped into the drivers seat their trouser leg rode up to reveal a high tech false leg. You would never have known.


Theft is something else.

Posted by: blackdog Aug 24 2015, 09:33 PM

Is someone capable of running to a cashpoint (false leg or not) really in need of a blue badge?

Posted by: spartacus Aug 24 2015, 09:51 PM

Being in possession of two good limbs I can only guess, but maybe there are days when your stump is itching like a bitch and you don't want to attach a prosthetic, whether it's a wooden peg or a ultra high tech wizard device capable of allowing you to actually run. Some people have earned the right to a Blue Badge and I wouldn't want to question that right

Posted by: Biker1 Aug 25 2015, 04:51 AM

Precisely.
I have an acquaintance who was a Parking Officer in Reading who says the abuse is more around 50%.
Mainly people using the badge when the person it applies to is not with them and even people using that of a deceased person.
As Blackdog says, is someone who leaps out of a car and is more mobile than me either in need of the badge, or are they abusing it?
Parking is a big issue for many motorists. A blue badge is worth a lot of money and convenience in saved fees and wider, reserved spaces. If abuse is as high as is thought then, yes, it annoys me.

Posted by: blackdog Aug 25 2015, 09:53 AM

Disabled people are not necessarily poor people - why does a blue badge automatically mean free parking? Should there be two colours - one giving free parking the other giving access to the parking spots, but with the need to pay the same as the able bodied?

Posted by: Andy Capp Aug 25 2015, 10:32 AM

I suspect the idea is to reduce unnecessary manoeuvres (going to a pay machine).

Posted by: blackdog Aug 25 2015, 10:42 AM

Fair point - but only applies to those capable of driving. Many blue badges are used by able bodied people chauffeuring the disabled - they are capable of using a pay machine.

Posted by: Andy Capp Aug 25 2015, 12:46 PM

Then I would imagine the cost of administering means testing has little or no cost benefit.

Posted by: blackdog Aug 25 2015, 04:24 PM

There needn't be any cost - not receiving disability benefits then you don't get free parking.

The idea is to somehow reduce the value of the badges, making theft and abuse less prevalent. Perhaps even split the function - blue badge allows you to use the parking bays, parking permit gives free parking - you might get both, but many wouldn't.

Posted by: Andy Capp Aug 25 2015, 05:51 PM

Your original argument was that some people can afford to park and they should pay; therefore, you will have to have a means test, so there will be a cost to that.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 25 2015, 06:59 PM

Firstly, I'd make public car parks free. Parking is a public good that should be paid for out of taxation.

Secondly, I'd paint designated bays for the less-able but I wouldn't have any qualification to use them, so no blue badge or anything, and no actual penalty for miss-use, but I'd leave it to the personal morality of the individual to choose if they needed the space over and above anyone else, and leave it to social norms to enforce in much the same was as this:

Posted by: blackdog Aug 26 2015, 08:44 AM

Isn't the means testing is already done to qualify for benefits?

Posted by: Andy Capp Aug 26 2015, 10:51 AM

Yes, but then you have to assess the means to pay and wouldn't each candidate need verification/investigating?

I'm in agreement with you in principle, but often the ability to pay issue is lumbered with a costly administrative overhead.

Posted by: Biker1 Aug 26 2015, 11:34 AM

It's the theft and abuse that is the real issue.
I think anyone found abusing the system should have the privilege taken away.

Posted by: blackdog Aug 26 2015, 12:49 PM

I guess I see the free parking aspect as an extention of disability benefit - so I don't see why those not in need of financial support because of their disability should get this benefit. Let's face it, those on job seekers allowance, tax credits or other benefits have to pay for parking - ability to pay is not an issue there.

To me the argument regarding the inability to use payment machines is far stronger than any financial issue.

It is also worth noting that several Newbury car parks charge for parking, blue badge or not - so free parking is not a right.

I should also note that I am not against Simon's approach of free parking for all!

Posted by: Berkshirelad Aug 26 2015, 04:48 PM

A blue badge is not just about free parking or otherwise. It permits parking on yellow lines - the idea being to minimise the distance from the holder's ultimate destination.

I used to drive my late mother who had a blue badge - I as allowed to park on yellow lines to 'unload' her and her walker/mobility scooter, but then had to move to ;normal; parking.

Don't forget, a blue badge is only for use on the public highway or council controlled off road parking. They are meaningless in places like the retail park or Sainsbury's. This is stated clearly on the badge.

I do not hold a blue badge, but I am legally disabled within the meaning of the Equalities Act - 'disabled' spaces in private car parks are fair game. At Tesco, the disabled spaces are further from the store entrance than normal or parent/child space.

Also, just an afterthought, most pay & display machines are too high for a wheelchair user.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 26 2015, 06:24 PM

Well, I'm not proposing free parking as such, just free at the point of use. Car parks would still need building and maintaining, and to a much reduced degree administering too, but as a public good I believe it's right that we should be taxed to provide them.