Blue badge permits now held by 1 in 15 adults in England | Motoring
Councils in England have been called on to crack down on the misuse of blue badge parking permits (legitimate and fake); because the rate of those who have these permits has reached one in 15.
AA called for more efforts to be made to detect crimes such as people using fake or stolen badges.
The permits, which must be renewed every three years, help people with disabilities or health conditions access shops and services by allowing them to park closer.
London also exempts car owners from having to pay an £18 per day congestion charge.
The latest Department for Transport (DfT) data shows there were 3.07 million blue badge holders as of March 31 last year, with more than 6% of the estimated 46 million adults in England holding a blue badge.
Edmund King, chief executive of the AA, said: “The blue badge scheme is a mobility lifeline for millions of legitimate users and their families.
“Our concern is not the absolute number of badges issued, but rather the estimates that one in five badges may be used by someone other than the owner or authorized user.
“Fraud is a problem that can include domestic abuse, posthumous use, counterfeit badges, and the theft and resale of badges.
“We would welcome a crackdown on illegal use of badges to protect deserving users.”
Although there are no new figures for the cost of blue badge fraud in the UK, the National Fraud Authority, a now defunct Home Office agency, estimated it was £46 million annually in 2011.
DfT data showed that the regions of England with the highest and lowest rates of badge holders were the north-east (6.1%) and London (3.5%) respectively.
In 2019, eligibility criteria for blue badges were expanded beyond people with visible disabilities to include people with invisible conditions such as Parkinson’s, dementia and epilepsy.
More than two fifths of badges awarded in 2024/25 were awarded without further assessment.
Depending on location, permits generally allow holders to park for free in pay and display bays and for up to three hours on single and double yellow lines.
In recent months many councils have reported lawsuits over misuse of the blue badge.
Croydon council in south London said in January it had ordered seven offenders to pay a total of nearly £6,000, a combination of fines, court costs and a victim surcharge.
The cases involved badges that were stolen, fake or belonged to someone else.
Last September Oxfordshire county council reported two misuse convictions of blue badges, including a man caught using his dead grandmother’s badge.
A Local Government Association spokesman said: “While the vast majority of badges are used correctly, there is a small minority who use other people’s badges fraudulently to save money by parking in disabled spaces or lazing around and deprive someone in genuine need.
“To help councils win the fight against blue badge fraud, residents need to continue to report to councils anyone they suspect of using a badge illegally, bearing in mind that people’s need for a badge may not be obvious.”
A DfT spokesman said: “Abusing and misusing the blue badge scheme is completely unacceptable and a criminal offence.
“Local authorities have been given greater powers to prevent fraud and abuse in their areas and work closely with the police.”
The Press Association contributed to this report
