Meeting of the Parliament 20 May 2014
I come to the debate as a member of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee and as a member, in the previous parliamentary session, of the Local Government and Communities Committee, which examined Jackie Baillie’s Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Bill. I therefore have some knowledge of the issues that are presented in Dennis Robertson’s bill.
Although legislation already exists for many parts of the blue badge scheme, anyone with even basic knowledge of the subject knows that there are on-going problems with the scheme, particularly in relation to its abuse. Dennis Robertson’s bill seeks to enhance the rights of blue badge holders. We must recognise that that is what it is about.
The Local Government and Regeneration Committee’s stage 1 report, which was published this month, is supportive in principle of the bill and its general intentions. That is not to say that the evidence presented to the committee showed that organisations did not have some concerns about the bill. For example, we heard concerns from the Law Society of Scotland and Inclusion Scotland about its implementation.
The blue badge scheme is, in essence, about assisting disabled people to live independent lives. During the committee’s evidence-taking sessions, it was suggested that blue badge abuse tends to occur most frequently in supermarket car parks. We have no legislation on such areas, and people must be aware that private car parks such as supermarket car parks are not covered by the bill. We need to examine that area further.
The committee also heard evidence about the levels of abuse of blue badges. Gordon Catchlove of the City of Edinburgh Council gave detailed figures, and said that 52 to 70 per cent of the blue badges that are on display in Edinburgh at any one time are being misused. However, we must recognise that even disabled people can hold down jobs and that they depend on the blue badge scheme to get to and from work, so some of the badges that are on display may belong to genuine blue badge holders who are carrying out full-time employment to their benefit.
That leads me to the area of enforcement. On-street parking is the responsibility of the police or local authorities, as other members have said. I hope that we have resolved that issue, given the evidence that we received at committee. There is clear guidance on who is responsible for enforcement in relation to the misuse or abuse of blue badges.