Hansard

It has been a great privilege for me to have been able to take forward the Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges (Scotland) Bill as a member’s bill. I would like to begin by inviting members who believe that they might not get an opportunity to participate in the debate to feel free to intervene on me if they have a specific question.

The Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges (Scotland) Bill is an empowering bill: it will empower our people with disabilities to lead full and fulfilling lives by enabling them to exercise their right to use the blue badge to which they are entitled to find legitimate parking spaces in our towns and cities.

I am very grateful to the Local Government and Regeneration Committee for scrutinising the bill at stages 1 and 2. I believe that the scrutiny that it undertook was fair, transparent and just. It considered in great depth questions that many people have been asking for quite some time. Why are we only now trying to ensure that people who have a blue badge can use it in a manner that gives them the freedom that I mentioned?

At stage 2, Inclusion Scotland lodged some amendments, and I am grateful to the committee for scrutinising them and giving them a great deal of consideration. I think that the conclusion was that, during the consultation process, people with disabilities believed that proceeding to enact the bill was the right and proper thing to do.

The consultation allowed me to listen to people with disabilities across Scotland. In the consultation meetings that we had in Aberdeen, Glasgow and here in Edinburgh, people with disabilities and organisations representing them were afforded the opportunity to ask important and appropriate questions about what was being proposed to ensure that we took forward what the bill was intended to achieve.

Under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, which introduced what was then the orange badge, people with disabilities were for the first time given concessions with regard to parking rights. However, it quickly became clear that the system was open to abuse. People came up with counterfeit badges, badges were being openly transferred, and third-party misuse was rife. It was felt that the legislation needed to be tightened up, and steps in that direction have been taken throughout the years. I now believe that the current badge system is robust, and, because of the unique number that each badge has, there should be little or no opportunity for fraudulent behaviour or copying.

In fact, the badge’s unique number is very important, because it will enable those who look at it, whether they be the police, traffic wardens or other local authority representatives who are charged with enforcing the system, to find out the badge’s legitimate owner. If they suspect that a badge is being misused, they can run a check. If, for example, the person using the vehicle is in their early 20s and the badge has been issued to someone in their 80s, the people who enforce the system will have every right to approach the person in question and ask whether the badge is legitimate or whether it is being misappropriated.

It is already illegal to use a badge that should have been returned because, for example, of the owner’s death, or to use a badge that has been lost or stolen, so people must be made aware that such actions are criminal offences. Indeed, it is only right and proper that people with disabilities themselves take some responsibility for their blue badges. During the consultation process, it became very clear that many people who have a blue badge were not aware of the rules and regulations about their use. One of the biggest complaints that we hear is that people think that third-party misuse is okay because the person who is using the badge is, say, going to the shops on behalf of the person with the disability. Of course, that is not the purpose of the badge, but if people with disabilities think that that sort of thing is okay, that suggests that we need to think about educating those people about the use of badges.

During the consultation process, we decided that it would be in the best interests of people with disabilities to set up two working groups. Those groups include representation from Police Scotland, local authorities and people with disabilities, and we are looking at producing for those who are issued with a blue badge something that will be an easy read that will make things clear and which will give, say, the top 10 tips for its use.

My thanks go to people with disabilities because, without the consultation process and their guidance, we would not be at the stage that we are at today.

Why do we need the bill? We need it because people think that it is okay to park in disabled parking spaces without a blue badge. As I said, people also think that third-party misuse of a blue badge is okay, although it is not. We as a society should not tolerate that. We should look at the impact of such misuse on people with disabilities. When someone misuses a badge, they do not just take a parking space; they also deny a parking space to someone with a disability. When that person is denied a parking space, they might have to return home and might not be able to do what they went into town for, whether that be leisure, pleasure or business—it makes no difference. People need to understand that they are not just taking a parking space that was available; they are denying a parking space to someone with a disability who is looking for one.

Just the other week, someone said to me, “I know it’s wrong, but I was in a hurry—I was going to be late for work. I couldn’t find a parking space, so I just parked in the blue badge space.” Such excuses should not be acceptable to us. They are not acceptable to me and I do not think that they are acceptable to the Parliament. I sincerely hope that we will hear other examples this afternoon that show why we need to pass the bill.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that the Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges (Scotland) Bill be passed.