The report of the Head of Business and Consumer Protection is attached.

Contact: Frances Darling (01743) 251715

The Committee received the report of the Transactional Management and Licensing Manager- copy attached to the signed Minutes – which provided an update on the actions taken and the current position in response to the Blue Badge Audit 2022/23.

The Transactional Management and Licensing Manager reassured the Committee that a lot of work had been undertaken to address the recommendations identified in the audit.  She reported that there were only three outstanding recommendations which were due to the increased volume of applications being received.  She informed the meeting that a full review of the service was being undertaken which included revised policy and procedures to be concluded and implementation by 1April 2024. 

She reported that they were processing applications in line with Department for Transport (DfT) requirements of 12 weeks however there was a backlog of over 1400 applications.  The three outstanding recommendations were detailed in the report (paragraphs 7.2-7.3) and were very much around processes and procedures within the application process. 

Members considered the current situation to be unsatisfactory, and they reported receiving complaints from their constituents.  The situation was not new however and had been reported in the local press in October 2022, also, the service received a limited audit opinion in 2015/16. It was concerning that the outstanding recommendations would not be addressed for a further six months.  It was queried whether there was sufficient staff to process the increase in applications.

In terms of the backlog, the Transactional Management and Licensing Manager confirmed that the outstanding applications were being processed in strict date order except for those applicants who came under the special rules criteria.  She referred to the total volume of blue badge applications received by financial year (set out in paragraph 8.3 of the report) which demonstrated the increase of applications being received, the vast majority of which fell under the hidden disability criteria introduced in 2018 for which the assessment process was more complex.

A member referred to a question that had been raised at Cabinet about why there was not an automatic renewal process for a person who had a lifelong condition, rather than them having to re-apply every three years as whilst these applications were being processed the applicants were unable to go out.  The Transactional Management and Licensing Manager explained the renewal process.  She stated that as they were actually new applications rather than renewals, all of the required documents had to be uploaded again.  She informed the Committee that it was a requirement of the DfT for applications to be submitted electronically and this had allowed them to continue processing applications throughout the covid-19 pandemic.  There were advocates in the community who could assist with blue badge applications, for example Age UK.

It was felt that a recruitment process should have been undertaken in advance of the planned retirement of the long-standing officer with 25 years’ experience of processing blue badge applications.  In response, the Transactional Management and Licensing Manager informed the meeting that they had six weeks’ notice of the retirement whereas it takes 3 months for recruitment.  Members wished it to be fed back to HR that a six-week notice period was inadequate and had led to inefficiencies within the service.

The Committee requested that any review and monitoring of blue badge submissions be backdated to cover the period between now and April 2024 in order for it to be on record how long these applications took to process.  It was also requested that the report be forwarded on to People’s Scrutiny Committee to include when they consider the Blue Badge Service along with members’ comments.

RESOLVED:

To note the position as set out in the report and for a further report to be submitted to the June 2024 meeting of the Audit Committee to include backdated monitoring information.

To forward this report to the People’s Scrutiny Committee to include when they consider the Blue Badge Service along with members’ comments.