§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the exemptions for which vehicles displaying disabled orange badges are eligible on the(a) Tay bridge (b) Erskine bridge (c) Forth road bridge and (d) Skye bridge. [40141]
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§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonDisabled persons who display orange badges on their vehicles to officers at the Tay, Erskine and Forth road bridge toll booths and complete the appropriate form are exempt from tolls. The procedure applies for each trip across these bridges. Disabled drivers who are exempt from payment of vehicle excise duty are exempt from tolls on Skye bridge. Other users of Skye bridge can buy a book of 10 tickets and can cross at £2.44 for each journey. This is less than the 50 per cent. fare reduction provision—£2.70—offered by the ferry operators, Caledonian MacBrayne, for vehicles displaying an orange badge whose drivers can produce documentary proof of their disability. The exemption arrangements were put before the public local inquiry which considered the Skye bridge toll arrangements and no objections were received. However, I have written to the chairman of Skye Bridge Ltd. in order to discuss the exemption arrangements.