• shared administration between local authorities, including an online eligibility checker and an online application form

• a central database of all Blue Badges on issue and information on badge holders, designed to help prevent fraud promote and better enforcement

• printing, personalisation and distribution of the new Blue Badge design 

 

An initial helpline will also be provided to answer queries from the public. The DfT has also published guidance on the scheme – see Publications, consultations and reports.

 

Eight local authorities have been awarded funding from a £500,000 total to promote and share good practice in the Blue Badge scheme. The Government intends this to improve consistency on the scheme’s administration and enforcement. 

 

The local authorities are: 

• Manchester and Bolton as joint Centre of Excellence for North West England

• Rotherham as Centre of Excellence for Yorkshire and Humberside

• Southampton as Centre of Excellence for South East England

• Birmingham and Coventry as joint Centre of Excellence for the West Midlands

• Wandsworth and Kensington and Chelsea as joint Centre of Excellence for London

 

The Local Transport Minister, Norman Baker, has also announced responses to requests to major supermarket chains for help enforcing Blue Badge parking on their premises, as the scheme does not cover privately owned car parks. Up to the present, seven supermarkets have said that drivers found abusing designated accessible bays may be issued with parking charge notices, along with other measures including car-park patrols, leafleting of vehicles and requests over in-store tannoys.

For further information, visit the News Distribution Service website

http://tinyurl.com/dft-blue-badge-supermarkets