Meeting of the Parliament 19 August 2014
My understanding is that private operators would need to come to some sort of agreement with local authorities or the police to enforce the provisions in a private area and that the proposals apply only to public car parking spaces.
The bill is designed to strengthen some of the enforcement aspects of the current legislation and ensure that there is a statutory review in order to ensure that people who are entitled to a blue badge receive one and that people who use a blue badge are legitimately entitled to it.
At stage 1, I said:
“This bill follows Jackie Baillie’s Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Bill, the intention of which was to prevent disabled persons’ parking places from being occupied by people who are not entitled to use them, by making disabled parking bays enforceable and ensuring that enforcement action”
against those who use them without a blue badge
“could be taken.”—[Official Report, 20 May 2014; c 31210.]
Sandra White’s proposed bill on responsible parking quickly followed. Sandra White is not in the chamber, but I recall her being frustrated that Dennis Robertson’s bill had overtaken hers in the parliamentary process. I am sure that she will have been in touch with the Minister for Parliamentary Business about that. Her bill aims to allow freedom of movement for all pedestrians by restricting parking at dropped kerbs and on pavements and double parking. That affects disabled people, as they may find it difficult to negotiate wheelchairs on pavements or across roads if the way is blocked by a parked car.
To me, those three pieces of legislation complement one other well. Combined, they will go a long way towards making our towns and cities much more accessible to people who have a disability.
The proposed powers in the bill will be a welcome addition to local authorities’ powers in tackling blue badge misuse and its impact on genuine users, as long as they are supported financially to enforce the powers. In particular, local authorities will have the power to cancel a badge that is no longer held by the person to whom it was issued to combat badges being passed on to other people. As the minister said, that seems to be quite a lucrative trade. The savings that someone could make by parking in Glasgow city centre, for example, run into thousands of pounds. Local authorities will welcome that power.
As I said at the outset, we support the bill. We will support it in the vote, and we look forward to its becoming an act and improving the lives of genuine blue badge holders across Scotland.
17:03