Accessible Parking Award: London Borough of Haringey

British Parking Awards 2024

The London Borough of Haringey is focussed on providing a Blue Badge service that meets the needs of residents with disabilities.

Since winning the Parking Technology Award in September 2023 for the work the council has done to tackle Blue Badge fraud, the borough has evolved its accessible parking offer by working collaboratively with residents to shape existing schemes and priorities for the future.

One of the strategic objectives highlighted in the council’s new Parking Strategy is “supporting residents with additional needs” through:

• prioritising parking for those with mobility needs and safeguarding provision and reducing fraud
• focussing on policy and programmes which adequately capture the needs and concerns of residents and other road users with additional parking
• measures required to ensure disabled parking provision is placed in the most appropriate location, of an appropriate standard (numbers and size of bays).

The work the council has done to support disabled and vulnerable residents includes introducing a new resident Care at Home Permit – a free paper permit for residents who receive care in their home. Working with residents across the borough, the council took steps to ease the pressure on individuals who need vital home support and care on a daily basis. Residents also helped to develop the application process that makes it simple for them to apply and removes the need for additional assessments or intrusive questions.

The council launched the Care at Home Permit with e-mails to specific residents and organisations as well as press releases, social media and its own newsletter, as well as attending meetings of disability and carers groups.

Cllr Seema Chandwani, Haringey Council’s cabinet member for resident services and tackling inequality said: “Residents often tell me of the stress and cost of making sure their carer has a parking permit so they can park outside their home to deliver vital care needs. We have worked hard with these residents to understand their needs and have developed this new permit to help them whilst also taking anti-fraud measures. Co-producing services and solutions with our residents is a top priority. This development is a perfect example of how working with our residents and partners in the health and care sector can lead to improved and more equitable outcomes.”

Other initiatives designed to support disabled residents include:

• promoting and prioritising dedicated disabled bays and making existing bays longer
• introducing a new Concessionary Travel Helpline
• introducing a new Blue Badge fraud reporting service
• making it easier for residents to park with the council’s virtual Blue Badge permit, further reducing the likelihood of theft.
• working with IT supplier Taranto Systems to develop an online system that makes the Blue Badge application quicker and easier, including real-time status updates and online debit and credit card payments.
• removing the £10 replacement fee for stolen paper Blue Badges
• introducing a fraud line and online form where residents can anonymously report if they have been offered a Blue Badge for sale, or if they know someone who is selling one.

Disabled Parking Bays

Dedicated Disabled Bays were launched after disabled residents felt there needed to be a permit system to ensure no one else could use their parking bay. They also felt the criteria for dedicated disabled bays should be extended to those with hidden disabilities.

The council worked closely with residents to get the scheme off the ground. The bays are implemented by the council’s Highways team but managed by Concessionary Travel staff. After improving the scheme by aligning the permit to the resident’s Blue Badge and undertaking further promotions, there are now 410 residents with their own Dedicated Disabled Bay in the borough.

Improvements to the Dedicated Disabled Bay scheme have included:

• Extending the Department for Transport criteria for disabled bays to not just be based on benefits but to also include invisible disabilities.
• Introducing appeals for Dedicated Disabled Bays.

Longer disabled bays

After talking to disabled residents, many felt that disabled parking bays were too small. The council reviewed the existing dedicated (410) and general use parking bays (1,821 in total to date) were lengthened to 6.6 metres, if needed.

This work made the disabled bays consistent with newer disabled parking bays, ensuring easier access to vehicles for those with disabilities.

A measure of success for this scheme includes the growing number of residents who have a Dedicated Disabled Bay, as is the positive feedback for dedicated and general use disabled bays.

Blue Badge holders

There are approximately 11,000 Blue Badge holders in Haringey. And for many of them, Blue Badge theft continues to be a huge concern. Since winning the British Parking Awards Parking Technology trophy the council has continued to check thousands of Blue Badges resulting in PCNs as well as cautions/prosecutions. We have also continued to make improvements to the Resident Blue Badge Holder Permit.

Blue Badge Checker

Since joining forces in 2022 with disabled residents who co– produced the Blue Badge Enforcement Policy, a total of 68,828 inspections have been carried out, of which 2,415 have resulted in penalty charge notices (PCNs) and 527 Blue Badges have been seized.

Badge Fraud convictions

In late 2023 due to the hard work of Haringey's Compliance and Risk Management Teams the council began to see more and more residents accepting cautions or being convicted of Blue Badge fraud. There have been 32 cautions accepted or convictions to date.

One conviction in February 2024 included a local resident of Haringey who was convicted of fraud after displaying a Blue Badge that she was not entitled to use in a bid to avoid parking fees. Having pleaded guilty, the resident was ordered to pay a total of £2,104 and sentenced to 12 months community order, 15 days community activity as well as adhering to a tag which limits them to a curfew for two months.

Wider engagement

Other local authorities are expressing an interest in how they can use this technology to combat their own levels of Blue Badge fraud and theft. In the meantime, the council continues to drive down the amount of misuse and theft supported by data reinforcing the council’s motivation and intent to be the at the forefront of this area of work.

Graham Day, a local resident and chair of the Physical Disabilities Reference Group, said: “As a Blue Badge holder, it’s very frustrating when you read about Blue Badges being mis-used. This heavily impacts the lives of disabled residents who are often prevented from using disabled parking bays which we are rightly entitled to use. Together with other members of Haringey’s Physical Disabilities Reference Group, I have worked closely with the council to form a policy around enforcement and reduce Blue Badge fraud. Knowing the council has conducted almost 70,000 checks on Blue Badges shows they have taken our feedback seriously and are committed to detecting and preventing Blue Badge misuse.”

Resident Blue Badge Holder Permit

Some 3,685 residents have a Resident Blue Badge Holder Permit (July 2024). When the permit was originally launched it could only be used within the residents CPZ. After listening to residents, the permit can now be used borough wide. Haringey has also ensured that the Resident Blue Badge Holder Permit can be used on single and double yellow lines. So, the permit mirrors how residents can use their paper Blue Badge within the borough.

Concessionary Travel Helpline

In March 2024 the council launched a new direct telephone number which can only be used by disabled and vulnerable residents to talk about parking matters or traffic exemptions.

Communications and social media

The council has undertaken various campaigns via the press and social media to highlight what it is doing to improve accessible parking in Haringey.

Winner’s words

Abdul Sahed (London Borough of Haringey): “At Haringey we invested a lot in engaging with our residents to really understand their requirements and needs. We have made lots of adjustments in our policy and our on-street facilities to help them get around the borough and make life accessible. Winning this award means so much not just for us as a team. It exemplifies the hard work collectively by everyone to try and improve the lives of people who are vulnerable and really need to get around the borough and keep it lovely.”

The British Parking Awards

Created and presented by Parking Review magazine, the British Parking Awards are an independent competition. The awards recognise the leading examples of car park management, enforcement, design and team work.

The British Parking Awards 2024 ceremony took place at the Royal Lancaster London on 13 September.

Read and download the 2025 WINNERS EDITION of PARKING REVIEW by clicking HERE

To find out more about the competition and next year’s event check out the official website.
www.britishparkingawards.uk