Hansard

Thank you, convener. I am sorry to drag the committee here on such a busy day. This is a new experience for me—I have not moved an motion to annul a Scottish statutory instrument previously. I am grateful to the committee for the opportunity to address members on the SSI. I would not normally scrutinise an SSI tabled with another committee but the issue—the scope of the blue badge scheme as it pertains to those with a mental illness or learning disability—is one on which I have had some correspondence and in which I have an interest arising from my previous occupations in general practice and psychiatry. While the attempt in the SSI to address a difficult area—the inclusion in the scheme of some of those with a mental disorder who have little or no awareness of the danger from traffic—is commendable, the pilot, as proposed in the SSI, has failed to include two categories of individuals who, I believe, should have been considered. As proposed, the two requirements for a blue badge are for the individual: to have a mental disorder under section 328 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003; and either to be in receipt of the highest or middle rate of the care component of disability living allowance or the higher or lower rate of attendance allowance or to have been assessed for the personal independence payment—based on having limited or severely limited ability to carry out daily living activities, taking into account such factors as their verbal communication, reading, understanding of signs, symbols and words and engagement with other people face to face. Those in care homes who meet the first criterion, and who are in receipt of either free personal care or full funding from a local authority, will not receive any of the benefits to meet the second criterion, whereas those who are not eligible for free personal care by reason of age may meet the second criterion, as they may be in receipt of an attendance allowance. Many care home residents and long-term, mainly learning disabled, patients in national health service facilities value being taken out into the community safely by their family, friends or, in some cases, befrienders. A blue badge could be important for them, but they would not be eligible because of the way in which the SSI is currently written. I acknowledge that we cannot simply allow anyone with a diagnosis of, for example, dementia, depression or learning disability who happens to be in a care home to be eligible. However, if the criteria exclude a group of people who might be eligible if they were in the community by virtue of being able to obtain one of the additional benefits required, those individuals will not be able to go out, except if care organisation staff use an organisational blue badge. Members should note that such a badge cannot be passed on or lent to a private person, such as a friend or relative, so that is not an alternative option. As I have indicated, those concerns arise not only for care home residents, although that is probably the most important group: there are some 40,000 individuals in care homes, 4,500 of them with learning disabilities. The same concerns arise for those in long-term NHS hospital continuing care, and I am not certain that the NHS even possesses an organisational blue badge to be able to take those individuals out. I seek assurances from the minister that those flaws will be remedied early in the new session of Parliament through further amendment of the regulations, and that he will not wait until the end of the pilot a year from April 2016. I appreciate that a pilot has the potential for evaluation, but unless those groups are fully considered now, they will not be included when the pilot is completed next year. In addition, I ask the minister whether the scheme will cover children with learning disability who are of an age when they would normally be expected to be aware of the dangers of traffic but who, by virtue of their learning disability, do not have that awareness. Such awareness is not just age related; it is affected by the extent and nature of the learning disability. I am thinking particularly of children with autism spectrum disorder, who are often unable to be aware of such dangers. I hope that the minister will be able to give us sufficient reassurance, and I thank him for his letter—I understand that committee members are getting a hard copy of it just now, but may not yet have had time to consider it. I will address it later—can I check that I will have an opportunity to respond to the minister, convener?