The government has revoked at least 22,000 blue badges issued to people with mobility or other disabilities who had since died as part of a record-breaking anti-fraud campaign, officials said
A new crackdown has seen tens of thousands of Blue Badges stripped from Brits following an investigation by the government.
The government has revoked at least 22,000 blue badges issued to people with mobility or other disabilities who had since died.
According to an investigation by officials, relatives of Blue Badge holders who had died had been taking advantage of their permits and even selling them.
In one case the family of a deceased badge holder asked for a replacement, telling staff that the permit was damaged.
Each authority holds separate data on how many of the revoked badges were intentionally misused, making a UK-wide figure difficult to estimate. However the Cabinet Office estimates that each badge could cost taxpayers up to £800 in missed parking fees and congestion charges.
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“In supermarket car parks and high streets, the blue badge is a symbol we respect,” Cabinet Office Minister Josh Simons said. “I was shocked when I learned there is an illegal black market of blue badges, which makes a mockery of that system. We have now identified and cancelled 22,000, after we found many were still in use after their holders had died. Our fraud crackdown found other abuses too.”
He said the government had found errors such as pensions being paid after a person’s funeral and council tax discounts being granted to those not eligible for them. “While hardworking, decent people pay their fair share, a small number of people scam the system and cost the rest of us millions of pounds of taxpayer money,” he added.
The campaign against fraud, which includes the measures on Blue Badges, has recovered £480 million of taxpayer money and is being touted as the UK’s greatest. Officials said innovative data-matching techniques and the use of an AI program that detects flaws before fraudsters can spot them was partly to thank for the record-breaking sums that have been recovered.
Simons continued: “Half a billion pounds back in the system. That’s nurses on hospital wards, teachers in classrooms and police officers on the beat. Taxpayers expect their money to be spent funding these services, not lining the pockets of fraudsters.
“We will keep using cutting edge technology to find abuses of the system and punish those responsible. We will always be tough on fraud.”