North Wales MS and Chair of the Senedd Cross Party Group on Disability, Mark Isherwood, has today highlighted in the Senedd the problems disabled residents in North Wales are experiencing in applying and obtaining blue badges and called for action to address them.
Questioning the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning in this afternoon’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood spoke of the “grave consistencies, inefficiencies and injustices arising from the Welsh Government’s blue-badge scheme in Wales guidance for local authorities” and asked what is being doing about them.
He said:
“For many disabled adults and children, and their families, having a blue-badge parking permit is key to accessing services and facilities in town centres and maximising their independence. Speaking at the Cross-party Group on Disability in February, STAND North Wales CIC- Stronger Together for Additional Needs and Disabilities - who submitted the Senedd petition to make blue-badge applications lifelong for individuals who have a lifelong diagnosis, stated that they had discovered through research that local authorities were either unaware of lifetime awards or had a different understanding of what it meant.
“Another speaker who I supported shared his experience of applying for a blue badge. When his application last year was initially unsuccessful, he was also informed that there was no statutory appeals process against the decision made by the local authority. And my extensive casework on behalf of affected constituents confirms and evidences the grave consistencies, inefficiencies and injustices arising from the Welsh Government’s blue-badge scheme in Wales guidance for local authorities. How will you engage with Cabinet colleagues to address this?”
Responding, the Cabinet Secretary said:
“There have been a number of reviews of the blue-badge scheme over recent years, but, given that these points have come up on two consecutive days in the Senedd now, I will commit to raising that with my colleague when she returns.”