Wales consults on Blue Badge technology

A consultation on reforms of the Blue Badge disabled parking scheme, which include introducing new IT to improve administration and cut fraud and misuse through data sharing, has been launched by the Welsh Government. The document proposes that information about the Blue Badge scheme will shared by local authorities across the UK using IT delivered through the Blue Badge Improvement Service. A five year contract for the service was signed by the Department for Transport and Northgate Public Services in June. The new IT system will make the Blue Badge scheme much less open to fraud and misuse, which should lead to a better service for genuine badge users but will cost more to provide, the document says. The Welsh Government is also proposing to adopt a newly designed Blue Badge with security features, delivered through the Blue Badge Improvement Service by sub-contractor Payne Security. The aim is that the new badge will be harder to forge and duplicate. In order to cover the additional costs of introducing the new badge, the government sets out options for increasing the current Blue Badge fee of £2, unchanged for almost 30 years, to either £5.50, £7.50 or £10. Views on a range of options for determining applicants' eligibility for a Blue Badge and proposals to give local authorities additional powers to cancel and confiscate badges are also being sought. Transport minister Carl Sargeant said: "This consultation will be another move toward ensuring the scheme is modernised in order to reduce current problems and deal with future challenges to improve the quality of life and access for disabled people across Wales." The consultation will run for 12 weeks until the end of October. It follows the Welsh Government's Blue Badge Action Plan , which was published in January 2010. This article is published by Guardian Professional. For updates on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here.