Disabled drivers: blue badges delays due to disability assessments.

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Disabled drivers face prospect of losing their blue badges due to delays in disability assessments, it is claimed
Blue Badge holders face losing parking privileges due to measures designed to combat fraud

[img]http://i.legraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02526/disabled-badge_2526884b.jpg[/img]

By Ben Bryant

10:00PM GMT 26 Dec 2013

Disabled drivers face the prospect of losing their blue parking badges because of delays in new disability assessments, campaigners claim.

Measures to combat Blue Badge fraud, which was estimated to cost the UK £46m a year, were introduced in 2012.

In October 2013 concerns were again raised, however, after it was discovered that they could be worth as much as £1,500 on the black market, in part due to a dearth of free on-street parking.

New measures to reduce fraud include an independent disability assessment; however, campaigners are concerned that this is causing unnecessary delays for many disabled drivers, as the independent assessors struggle to keep up with demand.

The Blue Badge Scheme enables disabled drivers to park in wider, more conveniently located spaces.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/10538392/Disabled-drivers-face-prospect-of-losing-their-blue-badges-due-to-delays-in-disability-assessments-it-is-claimed.html