Plaid Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones has outlined plans to clamp down on the abuse of the Blue Badge scheme that provide parking concessions for disabled people to enable them to park close to facilities and services.
Deputy First Minister and Welsh Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said:
“We need to ensure that the people who are most in need of a Blue Badge are able to access the service quickly and efficiently, but that we make the best use of modern technology to put further measures in place to diminish the abuse of the Blue Badge Scheme.
“The project will require co-operation from across Welsh Assembly Government departments, as well as the collaboration of local authorities, disability groups and other key stakeholders.”
The Plaid Leader made the announcement in a written statement to Assembly Members. The main commitments to improve the scheme are to:
- extend eligibility of the Scheme to children under 3 years of age with specific medical conditions;
- extend eligibility of the Scheme to new groups of disabled people;
- look at options to improve the application and assessment process;
- work with local authorities to streamline the administration process;
- reduce Blue Badge abuse by establishing a system of data sharing between local authorities, improving Badge security features and look at the possibilities of civil enforcement officers being able to seize Blue Badges that are being used unlawfully; and
- work with partners such as the British Retail Consortium to tackle parking abuse in private car parks.
South Wales Central AM Chris Franks, who has been campaigned for crack down on the abuse of blue badges commented:
“Investigations I carried out highlighted significant abuse of the disabled blue badge across Wales, including motorists misusing them to avoid the tolls on the Severn Bridge and even counterfeiting of badges. I welcome this announcement by Plaid Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones and I hope that this will lead to a reform of the system to improve enforcement.
“It appeared from the responses I received from local authorities that enforcement across Wales was patchy. In addition, the number of blue badges issued has trebled in just 21 years.”
The Badge Scheme was introduced in 1971 to provide parking concessions for registered blind or severely disabled people to enable them to park close to the facilities and services they need to use. There are around 230,000 Blue Badge holders in Wales.
