§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has received about the decision by some local authorities not to give automatic entitlement to an orange badge to recipients of the war pensioners' mobility supplement; if he will list the representations and the dates on which they were made; what replies have been sent; and if there is any action he proposes to take.
§ Mr. RidleyThe following organisations have suggested thatautomatic entitlement to an orange badge be extended to new claimants of the war pensioners' mobility supplement (WPMS):
Date Council of British Service and Ex-Service Organisations 22 August 1984 (also 22 October 1984 and 4 February 1985) Royal British Legion (Highworth and district branch) via the hon. Charles Morrison MP 8 July 1985 Royal British Legion (Kenilworth branch) via James Pawsey Esq MP 8 August 1985 Similar representations made to the Department of Health and Social Security have been attention.
The replies have explained that WPMS beneficiaries, transferring from other mobility benefits, preserved their automatic right to badges. New claimants for WPMS are eligible to receive badges if they have permanent and very considerable difficulty in walking, but to extend automatic entitlement to them would require amending regulations.
I do not consider such amendment appropriate at the present time, but I intend to review the operation of the orange badge scheme in due course.