It’s a common thread on Facebook. Someone having a rant about motorists ‘borrowing’ blue badges to park in disabled spaces.
But despite the debates, a Freedom of Information (FoI) request has revealed that only six people in Powys have been cautioned over the last three years.
One of the big issues surrounding the recent budget also concerned a proposal to charge blue badge holders to park in council owned car parks. It was eventually dropped.
But our Local Democracy Service reporter has looked at an information request submitted to Powys County Council and put online at the Whatdotheyknow.com website.
The council was asked if it had the data on the misuse of blue badges within Powys for the last three years.
The Information Compliance Team answered:
· Six cases pursued of DBB (Disabled Blue Badges) misuse by a third party and six people received and accepted a formal caution.
· One badge was seized by PCC as it belonged to a dead person.
· One live case that is being investigated and four cases referred to CEO (Civil Enforcement Officers) to keep an eye on referrals of misuse where vehicles and badge details known are allegedly being misused.
PCC said last Wednesday that it had seized a blue badge being used fraudulently by a family member while the entitled user was at home.
@PowysData tweeted last week that PCC had dealt with 1,292 FoIs and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) during the last 12 months.
Information provided by Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter