Auditors uncover more than £20k of Blue Badge fraud

Blue Badges are issued by the SIC's transport planning team based at the White House. 

Auditors have uncovered more than 30 cases of Blue Badge fraud in Shetland.

The SIC’s internal audit team reported details of its work as part of the National Fraud Initiative.

Addressing today’s (Tuesday) audit committee, auditor Jillian Campbell said the team had been investigating more than 2,000 “matches” based on data from last year.

According to a report to councillors, most of these had been cleared.

However a total of 31 cases of fraud relating to Blue Badges were identified, with a total valuation of £20,150.

The council issues blue badges to people with disabilities, providing exemption from parking restrictions and access to designated parking.

Fraudulent examples include instances when Blue Badges were issued in the name of people who had died.

Two instances of fraud involving creditors making duplicate payment requests were also identified and valued at £3,103.

Shetland Central councillor Moraig Lyall said the overall number of matches investigated seemed “quite high”.

Ms Campbell agreed it was a “significant number” but added that many were made in error.