Application to off-street parking
53. The Blue Badge Scheme does not apply in off-street
car parks, nor on private land. Citizens Advice gave us several
examples, all from different parts of the country, of clients
who had been fined and even clamped for parking in a private road
or a private car park.[59]
As the Minister pointed out to us, many private clamping firms
are capable of operating in an unscrupulous way,[60]
but clamping a vehicle which is displaying a valid Blue Badge
seems to be a particularly reckless act which could potentially
expose the Badge-holder to a level of distress which is out of
all proportion to the infringement which might have been committed.
54. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) issues
licences to vehicle immobilisers operating on private land. It
is a condition of the issue of a licence that a vehicle must not
be clamped, blocked or towed if a valid disabled badge is displayed
on it. The SIA may revoke a licence if the holder is found to
have broken its conditions. We have no evidence of the scale of
clamping of Badge-holders but it is something which should clearly
not happen under any circumstances and the fact that Citizens
Advice are able to point to examples of it happening around the
country is cause for concern. We recommend that the Minister
raise the clamping of vehicles displaying a Blue Badge as a matter
of urgency with the Security Industry Authority with a view to
tightening up enforcement of the licensing conditions relating
to the treatment of vehicles displaying a Blue Badge.
55. Just as a Badge-holder enjoys no concessions
in off-street car parks, somebody who is not a Badge-holder who
parks in a disabled parking bay is not committing an offence and
cannot receive a ticket from a local authority CEO. Car park owners
may choose to enforce the correct use of disabled bays by fining
or immobilising vehicles which are not displaying a Badge, but
anecdotal evidence suggests that they do not always do so with
a great deal of vigour.[61]
Operators can invite the local authority to operate its own parking
enforcement regime in their car parks, but the only example we
were offered of a major national company consistently fining people
who abuse its disabled bays was Asda.[62]
56. There was widespread support among witnesses
for a public information campaign to shame able-bodied drivers
out of using disabled parking bays and we recommend that the Department
undertake a vigorous campaign to this effect.
57. Under the Disability Discrimination Act,
service providers have a duty to make their services accessible
to disabled people and this includes, where appropriate, the provision
of disabled parking bays. The Minister was unsure whether or not
an operator which provided disabled parking bays but did not police
their use would be complying with the Act.[63]
We recommend that the Minister investigate the question of
whether car park operators who fail to enforce the use of their
disabled bays are complying fully with the Disability Discrimination
Act.
"Smart" badges
58. The introduction of smartcard technology—a
subject which we recently considered in relation to ticketing
on public transport—has the potential to make a significant
contribution to Blue Badge enforcement.[64]
Witnesses pointed out that a machine-readable Badge could be deactivated
remotely if the issuing authority had conclusive evidence that
it was being abused; it would also make the Badge harder to tamper
with or forge.[65] It
would also make it easier to introduce and enforce a wider range
of concessions such as short-term Badges for people with severe
but temporary mobility problems or, as one witness suggested,
to means-test the free parking concession.[66]
The Minister suggested that smart Badges might be used to give
much more specific concessions, for example, for the holder to
park all day outside his or her place of work.[67]
A number of options for a machine-readable Badge were identified
in the Strategic Review.[68]
59. It is clear that the introduction of a
machine-readable Blue Badge has the potential to make the Scheme
considerably more flexible and easier to enforce. We recommend
that the Government undertake a feasibility study of the various
options for "smart" Badges identified in the Strategic
Review.
50 Strategic Review, Annex K. Back
51
CEOs were until 31 March 2008 known as parking attendants (Traffic
Management Act 2004, s. 76). Back
52
QQ 13. Back
53
Ev 36. Back
54
Q 29. Back
55
QQ 29 & 127. Back
56
They are summarised in the Strategic Review, Annex Kii. Back
57
QQ 26 [Mr Lawson of DPTAC], 76 [Mr Low of TAG] & 105 [the
Minister]. Back
58
Ev 28-29. Back
59
Ev 36-37. Back
60
Q 121. Back
61
Car park owners, in this context, includes both companies which
operate car parks as their main business and those such as supermarkets
and leisure centres which operate car parks for customers in connection
with a principal business other than parking. Back
62
Q 154 [the Minister]. Back
63
Q 161. Back
64
Fifth Report from the Committee, Session 2007-08, Ticketing
and Concessionary Travel on Public Transport, HC 84. A "smart"
badge in this context means one that can be read by a machine,
for example, by using a barcode or radio-frequency identification. Back
65
QQ 14 & 44 [Mr Lawson of DPTAC]. Back
66
Q 40. Back
67
Q 138. Back
68
Annex J. Back
