The number of people being allowed to park in disabled parking bays in Bracknell has increased following an investigation.
Bracknell Forest councillors held an investigation into the council’s process for distributing disabled parking access back in 2021.
Access to disabled bays are provided in blue badges issued by local councils.
But in 2021, a report revealed a big discrepancy in the number of people with hidden disabilities having their applications for blue badges rejected compared to those with physical disabilities.
Now more of the people applying for blue badges for those with hidden disabilities such as heart and lung disease and mental disorders such as autism is increasing.
In January 2021, the approval rate for those with hidden disabilities was 34.72 per cent and 77.85 per cent for those with physical disabilities.
Following changes, 46 per cent of people with hidden disabilities applying for blue badges had them accepted 82.6 per cent with physical disabilities, according to data from January 2022.
The vast majority of applications are for those with physical disabilities in 2022, with hidden disability applications making up 6.9 per cent (148) of the total 2,151 submitted.
The figures were revealed in a meeting to update councillors on changes to the blue badge process which were approved by the council’s executive committee in September 2021.
READ MORE: Review of Bracknell Blue Badge process approved after failings are exposed
The statistics were given in a presentation by Simon McGurk, the council’s interim head of service, ACT & intermediate care services to its health and care overview and scrutiny panel on Wednesday, January 17.
Councillor Michael Brossard (Conservative, Central Sandhurst) said: “I think it’s very encouraging, within the council’s processes and the councils that are comparable to us are showing that we actually have empathy with our residents.”
However, recommended website changes to contain as much information as possible about the blue badge process and how decisions are made have not been completed yet.
To apply for a blue badge, applicants are directed to the Government website.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, cllr Dale Birch (Conservative, Little Sandhurst and Wellington) explained that council staff are using existing technology and focusing it on making the blue badge process easier to interact with.
Cllr Birch, executive member for adult services, health and housing said: “The idea is to get as much done locally as we can.”
Speaking at the meeting, cllr Birch said: “I think members can rest assured that the importance of the right customer facing approach to blue badges is uppermost with officers working with those people.”
The review in 2021 was triggered by a Local Democracy Reporting Service and BBC Shared Data Unit report which showed out of 109 councils, Bracknell Forest Council had the 16th highest disparity between those with physical and non visible disabilities obtaining blue badges.
The review was led by former councillor Malcolm Tullett.
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