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Ross Cranston (Dudley, North) (Lab): I am very pleased that the Government have accepted this recommendation, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Brian White) on introducing this new clause in Committee. I declare an interest as the honorary president of the Blue Badge Network, which is based in Dudley town centre. As my hon. Friend the Minister said, the validity and credibility of the blue badge system, which is so important to disabled people, needs to be reinforced. As he rightly said, DPTAC made 47 recommendations, of which this is one. The fact that the police and
enforcement officers will be able to call on those thought to be using such vehicles to produce badges for inspection is a very welcome move.That, however, is only part of the jigsaw, and I should like my hon. Friend the Minister to say when the guidance will take effect. The DPTAC report rightly points out that powers already exist in respect of the illegal use of badges, and that penalty notices can already be issued to badge holders parked illegally on the street, and to vehicle owners parked in spaces designated for badge holders. However, enforcement is absolutely crucial, and as the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) said, we should consider the important issue of children aged under two. Some indication as to when the guidance will be introduced would be very welcome.
Unfortunately, there seems to be widespread fraudulent use of badges. According to one estimate, there are some 700,000 fraudulent abuses of the badge system. The chief superintendent of the Dudley, North operational command unit says that the number of badges, and the number of abuses of badges, are increasing at an alarming rate, so enforcement is absolutely crucial. An assurance from my hon. Friend the Minister on the implementation of the guidance would also be very welcome.
John Thurso (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): I, too, am pleased to welcome the new clause, which allows for the inspection of blue badges. It will be greeted warmly by all those who hold blue badges and will make a considerable difference to their lives, enabling them to avoid the frustration they often feel at being unable to use the parking spaces provided for them. It also has the benefit of making the law in England and Wales consistent with that in Scotland, which already benefits from such regulations. We supported the provision in Committee and I am pleased to confirm that we will support it today.
Brian White (Milton Keynes, North-East) (Lab): As the Minister said, I moved a similar amendment in Committee, and other hon. Members have already mentioned several of the points that I intended to raise. However, it is important for the Government to introduce the guidance as quickly as possible. I am sure that my hon. Friend will seek to do so, but it would be helpful if we had some indication of how quickly it is likely to happen.
Local authorities and the police already have a wide range of powers, and the disabled community will welcome the additional powers of inspection. Just yesterday I exchanged e-mails with one of my regular correspondents, Clive Bailey, who describes himself as a rebellious disabled member of the community. He pointed out the various problems that arise when people misuse parking bays. The power to inspect will make a major difference to the lives of people like him.
As my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Dudley, North (Ross Cranston) pointed out, there is further work to do on other elements of the blue badge scheme, and I seek the Minister's assurance that the Bill will be the vehicle through which the Government will seek to make the necessary additional changes to
improve the blue badge scheme—the extension to under-twos, for example. The Bill is welcome and I congratulate the Minister on following up my original amendment.
Mr. John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): To complete the harmony of the occasion, I, too, welcome the Government new clause, and I also urge the Minister to produce carefully worded and timely guidance and advice. The guidance needs to be tough in some parts and kind in others. The House would surely agree with me that we should be tough on the low sort of life that tries to cheat on the use of these badges. It is particularly low and dirty to try to gain a badge on false pretences or to seek to use a vehicle carrying a badge when the person using that vehicle is not disabled and is not transporting a disabled person with him. We can all agree on that, and I hope that the guidelines will be tough on such people and that the maximum penalties will be imposed where it has been clearly established that the person fraudulently obtained a badge or fraudulently used a legitimate badge for another user or driver.
I also agree with the important point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) about dealing with disabled people themselves. There will be times when the authorities will challenge a disabled person in order to check up on legitimate use or concerning the appearance of the badge. In those cases, I hope that it will be done kindly and carefully with the assumption that what really matters is the fact that the proper person was trying to use the facility in the correct way. If some mistakes in how or whether a badge is displayed are made, we should not take a dim view if the right person was seeking to use it for the right purposes.
Anyone who has suffered from temporary disabilities—broken limbs or other accidents—has just a small insight into what it must be like to have to live with even bigger hazards all one's life. We must all have enormous sympathy for such people and I hope that the measure that we are debating today will not make their lives more difficult. I do not want them to be hectored by the authorities trying to enforce the regulations against other people.
Mr. McNulty: I thank hon. Members for their kind words and their welcome for the new clause. I should like to deal with some of the points that were raised.
It was right to point out that the provision by no means exhausts all the DPTAC recommendations, and we are still reflecting on how best to deal with other outstanding matters. There are many different ways of proceeding. My hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Brian White) alluded to primary legislation, but there may be other vehicles for achieving what may appear to be only minor changes, which can be enormously important for people with disabilities. For example, we could attempt to rid the legislation of the overladen value judgment in the term "institution", in preference for "organisation". It is beyond the scope of this particular Bill, but it would also be good if we could implement a degree of reciprocity across the EU—
if I may say that without provoking the current consensus—and a degree of mutual recognition of the system.The eligibility for the scheme of children under two could be the subject of secondary legislation. We have accepted DPTAC's recommendation to extend the scheme to certain groups of children under two—not least those who constantly require bulky or life-sustaining equipment to be carried around. Draft regulations are being prepared in that regard and we will consult on them later this year—as early as we possibly can. More generally, we are seeking to issue guidance for consultation at the earliest possible juncture. We want to reach a stage where enforcement officers and disabled badge holders are able to understand the full breadth of the guidance before the new powers are introduced. Assuming that the Bill receives royal assent we hope to introduce the powers at the earliest opportunity.
The hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) raised an important point about enforcement officers and interplay with the police. We shall seek to ensure that enforcement officers and the responsible authorities advise on the most appropriate means of involving the police in order to pursue a prosecution. The interface with the police is highly important and we want the guidance to make clear, after consultation with the enforcement authorities and the relevant police authorities, the system that will prevail to achieve that. I repeat my undertaking to try to ensure that any guidance should make it clear that, where the badge of an entirely legitimate badge holder has somehow been obscured, the provisions can be revoked.
There are other dimensions of the scheme that we need to reflect on further. We are examining the feasibility of establishing a national database of badge holders, specifying precisely who is entitled to use a badge throughout the country. We shall do some further research on that during the next couple of months. In the longer term, the advent and development of smartcard technology might provide an appropriate way to proceed.
Brian White: On that point, does my hon. Friend agree that the role of carers is crucial?
Mr. McNulty: The eligibility of carers and of people with a clear temporary but debilitating disability—the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) referred to them—will require further examination in some detail. Both in the House and beyond, people have broadly welcomed the provisions. The Bill provides a substantive advance, which should be made, but I fully accept that DPTAC's recommendations and a range of other suggestions show that there is further to go before the blue badge scheme will be fully operative in the way we all want. Abuses certainly have a profound impact.
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