Blue badge arrangements are to change in Swansea

BLUE badge application arrangements in Swansea are set to change after a review of the service.

The council has been operating the service correctly on the basis of a new Welsh Government toolkit since October last year. But now it has decided to change its approach after conducting its own review of the toolkit.

It means changes to the system will be introduced to bring Swansea into line with some other local authorities who have also suspended implementation of the toolkit.

Rob Stewart, Leader of the Council, said: “We have been monitoring blue badge decisions for some time and have decided to act now to ensure the right outcomes for applicants are being achieved.

“We will be reviewing all blue badge decisions which were turned down on the basis of the new Welsh Government toolkit. This review exercise will take us several weeks and then we will be contacting applicants to advise them of the outcome of the review of their application.”

Jane Harris, Cabinet Member for Adults and Vulnerable People, said: “I welcome this decision. I am sure the new Welsh Government toolkit was designed to help local authorities make consistent decisions on blue badge applications and prevent those who should not get a badge from having one.

“However we want to ensure the balance is right, and in doing so we want to ensure our decision-making is as compassionate and comprehensive as possible to ensure those who really need a blue badge get one.”

Recently Welsh Government requested the Independent Advisory Service to review a sample of Swansea Council blue badge decisions made using the toolkit and officers were told the decisions had been made correctly in accordance with the toolkit’s scoring system.

However, the effect of the council decision is that it will now follow Welsh Government guidance that was in force prior to the new toolkit being introduced in October last year.

A spokesman for the council emphasised that blue badge holders and those who have been turned down for badges since October 13 last year do not need to take any action.

He said: “All those people who have been turned down for blue badges this year on the basis of the new toolkit will have their cases reviewed using the old system. We’re asking them to be patient while this process takes place because there are just under 500 to look at.

“As each case is reviewed we will write to the applicant and let them know what the new decision is. Anyone who is turned down at this stage will have an opportunity to appeal in the normal way.”

The Welsh Government has been informed of Swansea Council’s decision.