§ Mr. Haselhurstasked the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made with measures to tighten up the issue of badges to disabled car-drivers and to eliminate abuses connected therewith.
§ Mrs. ChalkerMost of the measures designed to tighten up the orange badge scheme came into force only last March. As badges are valid for three years, only a small proportion have come up for renewal and it is too early to assess the effectiveness of the measures.
§ Mr. Haselhurstasked the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he takes to ensure that the provision of parking facilities for disabled persons in areas such as central London reflects the requirements of disabled visitors as well as disabled residents of the area.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe orange badge scheme applies to all of Great Britain except for parts of central London where, because of the severe traffic and parking problems, it would be very difficult to allow concessions to all badge holders, and the concessions have to be confined to those who live or work there. The possibility of extending the national scheme to those areas will depend on the effectiveness of the measures recently introduced to tighten-up the issue of badges under the national scheme.