WRONGFUL PARKING OF VEHICLES IN SPACES RESERVED for DISABLED PERSONS (Hansard, 10 July 1981)

§ Mr. Wigley
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
This again is a technical amendment and has regard to the use of the word "street". In our discussion on the previous amendment we interpreted the wording in the Bill in a way that resulted in the term "street" including a pavement, walkway and things adjacent to streets, which is the meaning that the term has in Wales and England. But apparently there is a need for the term "street" to be defined anew in Scotland, because it does not have such a wide generic interpretation. Therefore the amendment is needed to make sure that the term "street" includes footpaths, and pavements in addition to the roadway itself.
The use of the word "street" in clause 1 is clearly intended to cover pavements. Most of the obstructions to which reference was made in the previous debate were obstructions to pavements affecting blind people and disabled people. We wish not only to give protection against openings in pavements but also to ensure that the needs of blind and disabled people are taken into account in such matters as the location of street furniture, seats and lamp posts.
We wish the Bill to apply to pavements and roads and also to the interface between pavements and roads. There is, for instance, the question of ramping. I recognise that there can be a diversity of interests. A kerb is often used by a blind person with a stick to identify his location. A two-way argument therefore arises over whether to ramp. It is clearly desirable that there should be adequate ramping to enable people in wheelchairs to move from the road to the pavement without too much difficulty, not least at the interface with a pedestrian crossing, which was an issue discussed at some length in the other place.
743 This is a technical amendment to extend the interpretation of the word "street" so far as Scotland is concerned.

§ Mr. Rossi
I cannot improve on the explanation that the hon. Gentleman has given for the amendment. It is true that, although Scotland knows all about roads and footpaths, it does not apparently know about streets. Its legislation has to be amended accordingly so that a street may be properly defined. I recommend the amendment to the House.

§ Mr. Wigley
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords said amendment.
We come now to an amendment of considerable substance. I welcome it greatly. It relates to the wrongful use of the orange badge. It touches upon a matter of considerable public debate.
The orange badge scheme, introduced over the last decade, has proved a considerable benefit to disabled people. In my area, there is a fairly high degree of disablement arising not only from accidents but also from industrial disease such as pneumoconiosis. The orange badge has given disabled people a new flexibility in mobility that has been highly welcome.
Unfortunately, the facility afforded by the orange badge is so clearly advantageous that one or two people, or perhaps more, have abused the scheme in a totally antisocial manner. These able-bodied people have taken advantage of the orange badge belonging perhaps to a member of their own family or a badge that they are entitled to use when driving someone else around but not entitled to use themselves to gain advantage in terms of parking.
744 This practice causes considerable difficulty for the authorities trying to implement the orange badge scheme, those trying to control traffic and those issuing the orange badges themselves. There has been a backlash from police and traffic wardens over the misuse of the orange badge. Able-bodied people have been parking in places where they were not allowed to park. Because of this pressure, social service departments have begun to think twice before issuing badges. Sometimes, those entitled to an orange badge have not been issued with a badge because of the pressure on social service departments not to issue too many as a result of the parking problems that have arisen.
The amendment creates a new offence, and is necessary and highly desirable. There will be a fine of £200 for someone who misuses an orange badge. If there is coverage of the debate and publicity for the Bill, I hope that the message will get home that the fine liable to be charged on someone who misuses an orange badge is substantially higher than the fine he will face for parking in the wrong place, so that if he is disposed not to wait for a slot in which to park in a legitimate parking space, at least he does not do the anti-social thing of bringing the badge scheme into disrepute by using a badge to which he is not entitled. This new offence puts pressure on such people not to abuse the scheme.
I hope that this will lead to a position in which orange badges are used only in genuine cases. As a result, life will be much easier for those who are entitled to use the badges and for the social service departments, which are responsible for issuing them, and the police and the traffic wardens who have to live with the consequences of the scheme.
The amendment has been pressed by many outside bodies. We hoped that it would find an opportunity in the Bill to make progress. I am delighted that it has been possible to bring the amendment forward now. I hope that it will give a positive service to all who have to deal with the mobility of the disabled and that it will be of tremendous benefit to everyone.

§ Mr. Rossi
This was a Government amendment, introduced in the other place. I follow the hon. Gentleman in referring to the problems that have been experienced in regard to the orange badge scheme. As the House knows, the scheme was introduced to allow people who had a severe physical handicap, which meant that their mobility was extremely restricted, to park motor cars as near to their destinations as possible. Therefore, local authorities were empowered to issue orange badges which could be displayed on the motor vehicle being used by a disabled person or containing a disabled passenger.
The scheme allows a car with such a badge to be parked for up to two hours on yellow lines or to be parked in a parking meter bay without charge, or to be parked without limit of time in a place where there is a time limit on the parking that is allowed. This is of considerable use to disabled people wishing, for example, to shop and to go about their everyday lives overcoming the disabilities with which we more fortunate members of society do not have to contend.
Unfortunately, some people have tended severely to abuse the system. People who are not disabled have stuck orange badges on their cars, in the same way as the use of "CD" badges was at one time considerably abused in central London. The effect of that has been to bring the 745 system into disrepute. There has been a reluctance on the part of local authorities to grant orange badges, and even, in some cases, to enter into the scheme.
Therefore. the amendment is intended to create a new separate offence in law. At present, someone abusing an orange badge—in other words, sticking it on his car when he is not entitled to do so, and parking on a yellow line—is committing only an ordinary parking offence and is subject to the ordinary fixed fine. Under this amendment and the new legislation, a new statutory offence will be enacted, under which a penalty of up to £200 can be imposed, and that is in addition to the parking offence which will still be committed by the offender in question.
The matter does not end there. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport intends to introduce further regulations in order to reduce the present abuse and to win back respect for the scheme. Matters that will be covered by the new regulations will include the circumstances in which the badge can be issued. Guidance will be given to local authorities. There will be a far closer definition of the categories who will be entitled to display an orange badge on their motor cars.
Britain is a member of the European Community and I hope that in time it will be possible to seek harmonisation of these regulations once they are enacted so that a disabled driver may travel in Europe and know that the symbol will be recognised by uniform enforcement throughout the Community. That is looking slightly into the future but I can tell the hon. Member for Caernarvon (Mr. Wigley) that we are beginning to consider ways and means in which even that long-term objective may ultimately be achieved. I commend the amendment to the House.

§ Mr. Wigley
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
The amendment is short and simple. Its purpose is to avoid retrospection. That is something that usually commends itself to the House when any new category of offence is being introduced. I hope that the amendment will commend itself universally to the House.

§ Mr. Rossi
This is another technical amendment that ensures, for obvious reasons, that the separate offence of illegal parking in a disabled person's parking space cannot be allowed to take effect retrospectively.