Blue badge fraud or urban myths?

By Katharine Quarmby

Are fraudsters selling blue badges on Ebay? A row over this vexed subject is threatening to eclipse the findings of the all-party parliamentary committee’s report on the blue badge scheme.

Two newspapers, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, have reported that MPs were told during the select committee investigation that badges were going for up to £5000 on Ebay.

But a spokeswoman for the transport select committee said: “there is nothing in the report about selling badges on e-bay” and nothing could be found by Disability Now after a thorough search of all oral and written evidence.

The newspapers implied that the Disabled Peoples Transport Advisory Committee had given evidence that disabled people, or their relatives, were putting blue badges up for auction on the website. Not so, says a DPTAC spokesman – they never made such a claim to the select committee – although he says that such anecdotes swirl about the disability world from time to time.

This row has distracted from the more newsworthy parts of the select committee report, including its finding that there are wide differences in the way in which disabled people were assessed by local authorities.

Louise Ellman, the chair of the Transport Committee, said: “The parking needs of people with disabilities must not be decided by what is effectively a postcode lottery”.

She added: “There must be greater consistency in the way in which the eligibility criteria for blue badges are applied across the country, and those who use stolen badges must face the consequences.”

The committee wants to crack down on fraud, with tougher penalties for those who abuse the scheme and it recommends a national database to help combat what appears to be a growing problem.

The minister, Rosie Winterton, signalled that the government would consider such an approach when she gave evidence.

The committee also praised Asda, the only major national company that consistently fined people who abused disabled bays and recommended that the government investigate whether car park operators which fail to fine are contravening the Disability Discrimination Act.

Other recommendations include: a public information campaign to “shame” non-disabled people out of using disabled parking bays and a feasability study of “smart” badges to reduce fraud.

Helen Smith, Director of Policy and Campaigns at  Mobilise, commented: “I am very pleased to hear that MPs have finally realised the Blue Badge scheme needs a massive overhaul, something on which Mobilise has been campaigning for years. There are huge inconsistencies across the country with who qualifies and who doesn’t and we hope that this will be addressed, not only by establishing a national database but also nationally administrating the scheme.”

She added: “We are glad that supermarkets who fail to police their bays will be investigated to see if they’re in breach of the DDA”. She said that the “illegal sale” of badges must be addressed, but had “no idea” whether the Ebay story was true or not.

Ebay declined to respond to requests from Disability Now for a comment.