Changes for Forres disabled

DISABLED people in Forres will see changes to a popular initiative designed to help them stay independent in 2012.

Alterations are being made to the application process for the ‘Blue Badge Scheme’. This provides parking concessions to people who have difficulty walking by allowing them to park extremely close to their destination.

From next month anyone wanting a badge will fill out an online application form, replacing the current system where they hand in paperwork at the Moray Resource Centre on Maisondieu Road, Elgin. However, they will still be able to get help applying from Moray Council staff there.

A meeting of the authority’s health and social care service committee heard that new form is designed to be “more rigorous” when it come to checking identity to try and crack down on bogus claimants.

Members were told there have not been any cases of fraud in the district since the scheme was introduced in 2000, but it is a big issue in urban areas.

The design of the badges is also set to change in the new year.

The council is also set to take over responsibility for assessing whether people are eligible for a badge from NHS Grampian, though an exact date for this has yet to be confirmed.

In 2010 there were 1,947 badges issued in Moray, set to rise to 1,954 by the end of this year.

The changes have been put forward by both the Scottish and British Governments.