AM Gwenda Thomas, today asked her constituents for their views on disabled parking badges.
The Welsh Government is currently considering changes to the way the ‘Blue Badge Scheme’ for disabled drivers works and has launched a consultation to canvas opinions on the proposals.
Mrs Thomas said: “We know that the Blue Badge Scheme makes a real difference to the lives of disabled people across Wales. Over 230,000 people currently qualify for a disabled parking badge. The Scheme improves their quality of life by helping them overcome some of the barriers they face when accessing jobs, shops and other important services.”
“We have good evidence that many disabled people would simply be unable to travel without the certainty that they will be able to park close to where they need to be. Seventy-five per cent of Badge holders say that they would go out less often if they did not have a Badge.”
“Clearly we need to make sure that any change to this scheme works. The best way to ensure success is to listen to the views of the badge holders themselves. For that reason I really hope people in Neath will take the opportunity to respond to this consultation.”
The Welsh Government is considering ways in which the system for assessing eligibility could be made fairer and consistent across Wales. The variety in approaches used by local authorities has resulted in inconsistent decision making and significant differences in Badge issue rates between council areas.
The consultation, which runs until the end of October, invites responders to grade a variety of proposed systems according to how accurate, fair and feasible they feel they would be.
The Welsh Government also hopes to introduce a new IT system that will improve administration of the Blue Badge Scheme and reduce fraud and misuse by allowing information on Blue Badge holders to be shared between local authorities. The system will also include the supply of a newly designed blue badge with security features which will be harder to forge and duplicate.
In order to cover the costs of the new system the Welsh Government is considering changing the fee for Blue Badges. In Wales the administration charge has stood at £2 for almost 30 years. In England it is currently increasing to £10, and in Scotland it is going up to £20. The consultation documents sets out three possible rates for Wales: £5.50, £7.50 or £10. The Welsh Government wants to hear from Badge holders what amount they think would be a reasonable fee.
Copies of the consultation document and response form can be found on the Welsh Government website. Paper copies are also available from Gwenda Thomas’ office, to have them sent to you please call 01792 869993.
