Written - Modernising the Blue Badge Parking Scheme for Wales

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.

The Welsh Assembly Government is modernising the Blue Badge scheme to make it fit for purpose and we have recently conducted a consultation exercise about this. I will be publishing the action plan on the Welsh Assembly Government internet site next week.  This will set out how we will work with stakeholders and partners to take forward a prioritised approach to modernising the Blue Badge scheme. The action plan will outline how we will develop a Scheme to meet the future needs of Welsh citizens in the 21st Century by improving equality of opportunity and access for the most severely disabled people. The main commitments to improve the scheme are to:

• This is a 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.

This is a wide ranging and extensive programme that will take up to 5 years to deliver although there are opportunities to prioritise some areas for early implementation. For example, I will want to give priority to extending the scheme to children under the age of 3 with specific medical conditions as well as to people with severe congenital disabilities in both arms and who find it difficult to use parking equipment.  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 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.  We are liasing with UK Government and other devolved administrations to ensure that a cohesive scheme is developed across the UK.  I have set up a dedicated team within the Department of Economy and Transport to take this exciting programme forward, to ensure that the Scheme delivers the Government’s commitment to social inclusion, accessibility and improvements to an individuals general well-being and quality of life.