Hansard

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges (Scotland) Bill and I congratulate Dennis Robertson on the progress that he has made.

Labour members support the general principles of the bill and will vote yes at decision time tonight. We welcome the bill’s main objective, which is to protect the rights of blue badge holders. We recognise that misuse of blue badges must be tackled, because it can lead to blue badge holders not being able to access a parking space when they need one.

However, we seek reassurance from the Scottish Government that it will work with its multi-agency working group to ensure that blue badge holders are properly educated about how to use their badge, so that disabled people who inadvertently misuse their badge are not penalised under the proposed new approach. I welcome what the minister said about providing more concise information to users.

We also seek reassurance that local government in Scotland will be properly supported and financially resourced to implement the bill’s provisions, in particular those on enforcement and review.

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 could be taken.

Sandra White quickly followed with a proposal for a responsible parking bill, which would allow freedom of movement for all pedestrians, by restricting parking at dropped kerbs and on pavements and double parking. The issue affects disabled people, who can find it difficult to negotiate their way across pavements and roads if their route is blocked by a parked car.

Sandra White’s proposal complements the approach in the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009. Together, the measures will go a long way towards making our towns and cities more accessible to people who have a disability.

The proposed powers in the bill will be a welcome addition for local authorities as they seek to tackle blue badge misuse and its impact on genuine users, as long as authorities are financially supported to enforce those powers, in particular the power to cancel a badge that is no longer held by the person to whom it was issued.

Constables and enforcement officers will be given the power to confiscate a badge that appears not to have been issued under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, that has been cancelled, that should have been returned to the local authority or that is being misused. It will be an offence to use a cancelled badge and to drive a vehicle while displaying a badge that has been cancelled or should have been returned to the local authority. The proposed powers will be most effective in curbing misuse of the scheme.

Although we support the bill at this stage, we seek assurances that there will be an education campaign to inform genuine blue badge users of exactly what they can and cannot do when they use their badge.

Other issues, which are not covered in the bill, might be worth thinking about in future. Blue badge holders can sometimes park on single or double yellow lines, but they are not allowed to do so if there are additional markings on the kerb. Sometimes it is possible to park, but people cannot find the road sign that lists the prohibited times without walking a long distance and standing in the street to check the restrictions. There appear to be more and more restricted areas and it would be worth while if the minister looked into the upsurge in restrictions.

I will close as I began, by saying that we support the bill’s general principles and that we will support them at decision time, with the caveats that I gave on assurances about resourcing and education. I look forward to the bill progressing.