NEWS NATIONAL NEWS
Newsdesk: 01223 273526
editor@britishparking.co.uk
Beating Blue Badge fraud
T e British Parking Association, local authorities and private operators have welcomed greater powers for local authorities to clamp down on people abusing Blue Badges across the country. From April, local
authorities that run civil parking enforcement operations will be able to seize Blue Badges they believe are being
misused, or those that have been cancelled or are out of date. Tim Cowen of
NSL, the UK’s largest employer of civil enforcement offi cers, welcomed the new recommendations. ‘We have nearly 4,000 offi cers patrolling streets all over the UK, and they see a lot of incidents where they believe Blue Badges are being abused,’ he said.
‘It is a particularly
sneaky crime, which potentially deprives a disabled driver of a parking space, but taking legal action against fraudsters can be diffi cult and time- consuming. T is sounds like a very sensible way of helping combat fraud, and I am sure it will be welcomed by all our offi cers.’ Paul Slowey, director of the Blue Badge
Fraud Initiative (BBFI), which investigates abuse, indicated the scale of the problem: ‘Working in six local authority areas in the last 18 months, we have checked more than 3,000 badges; 550 have been seized on suspicion of fraud or misuse. About 80 per cent of these are valid badges being misused, but about 10 per cent are fake – and, in six per cent of cases, the badge holder is deceased. Stolen badges are rare. Among new measures to be taken in the fi ght
against fraud are: ● Providing local authorities with on-the- spot powers to recover badges that have been
cancelled and misused; ● Shared administration between authorities – including an online application facility
– resulting in faster renewals, reduced abuse and operational effi ciency savings of up
to £20m a year; ● Wider use of independent mobility assessments to determine eligibility, including where previously that assessment was carried out by a GP; and support for this measure by giving local authorities control of National Health Service spend on Blue Badge
assessments; and ● T e replacement of handwritten badges with standard electronic ones that are harder to alter or replicate. In next month’s
Parking News, Paul Slowey of the BBFI off ers an in-depth look at the scale and expense of the Blue Badge fraud problem in the UK.
Operator at front of the Q CLAMP DOWN
The owner of a car- clamping company was fi ned more than £1,000, after Tower Hamlets Council discovered some of his staff were not authorised by the Security Industry Authority (SIA). Shah Abdal from east London pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates’ Court, in January, to an offence of wrongfully claiming his offi cers were authorised by the SIA.
The council’s trading standards
8 MARCH 2011
team investigated the company following complaints about its clamping tactics outside the City Pride pub near West India Quay.
When checking the company’s website, offi cers discovered claims that staff were licensed with the SIA were false. The SIA, which regulates those working in the clamping industry, had not registered many of the staff – including Abdal himself.
Westminster council is saving residents more than £3m a year by leasing out a portfolio of car parks to private operator, Q-Park. The company has taken over a 25-year lease from previous operator, Apcoa, and is now running 14 of the council’s car parks, which provide approximately 4,200
car parking spaces and 900 motorcycle bays. The new operator
will also carry out £10m of improvement works across the sites, which include
locations at Oxford Street, Park Lane, Kensington and Chinatown.
Existing resident
parking permits will remain for the duration of the leases, as will the arrangements for existing electric vehicle parking and free motorcycle parking in certain areas.
Enforced change
A new body, created from a merger between the Enforcement Services Association (ESA) and Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies (ACEA), has been formed to promote training, standards and the professionalism of the enforcement industry. T e Civil
Enforcement Association (CIVEA) was formed after both bodies voted overwhelmingly in favour of the merger. T e two existing associations will continue to operate side-by-side until the administrative process is complete.
www.britishparking.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78