Speaking in the Welsh Parliament today, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood said that the Blue Badge Parking scheme provides a lifeline for a range of people, where people are not disabled by their impairment or difference, but by barriers in society.
He also expressed concern that the Welsh Government had rejected calls for a concessionary parking scheme, separate to the Blue Badge scheme, to meet the needs of those who require swift access to amenities.
Taking part in the Debate on the report by the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, of which he is a member, ‘The Blue Badge Scheme in Wales: Eligibility and Implementation’, Mr Isherwood, said such a scheme would benefit carers, those with incontinence problems and those suffering a temporary impairment expected to last less than 12 months.
Mr Isherwood, who Chairs the Assembly Cross Party Group on Disability, also emphasised the need for flexibility around the period for which the temporary blue badges are issued, and called for action to address the inconsistencies, highlighted by Disability Wales, in the knowledge and understanding of blue badge assessors across local authorities.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“After accepting our recommendation that the Welsh Government undertakes a review of the eligibility criteria for the Blue Badge, the Welsh Government then qualified this by stating “officials will consider and explore further research through joint working” between the 4 UK Nations, where findings will inform the next steps – adding that “it cannot be confirmed whether the work can be funded within current budgets”.
“As worded, therefore, this is not acceptance - and we need clarity accordingly.
“I have long been calling for temporary blue badges, after receiving correspondence from constituents over the years who have had temporary impairments, requiring them to depend upon mobility aids for a limited period, because of an accident, operation or occasionally other factors.
“Speaking here in 2016, I moved an amendment to defer the introduction of temporary Blue Badges because the Welsh Government’s amendment regulations “don’t go nearly far enough” and still disabled too many people.
“Although these Blue Badges, available to people with temporary impairments that last more than 12 months but aren’t permanent, were therefore a step in the right direction - I stated that they were “in breach of the Welsh Government’s publicly stated commitments to person centred support, independent living and the social model of disability”.
Mr Isherwood added: “The Welsh Government rejected our Recommendation 7, ‘that the Welsh Government updates its guidance to local authorities to clearly specify that all staff who undertake blue badge assessments are trained to understand, and apply, the social model of disability’, on the grounds that its guidance can only recommend and not specify.
“As our report states ‘Disability Wales highlighted inconsistencies in the knowledge and understanding of assessors across local authorities’ - and said ‘we’re not entirely convinced about people’s competence to carry out those assessments. We haven’t got knowledge of what training those people have undertaken to come to those decisions’.
“This issue was also raised by NAS Cymru, who suggested that suitable training, including autism training, should be mandatory for those making decisions on eligibility for a Blue Badge.”
“Unless the Welsh Government ensures lived-experience training for Blue Badge assessors, assessment errors will continue to fail people - as will its rejection of Committee Recommendations 9 and 10 that the Welsh Government put in place review and formal appeals processes for applicants to challenge an Authority’s decision on a Blue Badge application.”
“Although Assembly Lawyers state that the Welsh Government can impose duties on a local authority “to make arrangements with a view to securing that its functions are carried out with due regard to the need to meet the equal opportunity requirements” by amendment to the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, the Welsh Government states that ‘there is no capacity in the Legislation Programme for this Assembly Term’.
“I therefore call on all Parties to include a commitment to do this in their Election manifestos for the next Welsh Parliament.”
