Motion: Extension of the Blue Badge Eligibility Criteria

Extension of the Blue Badge Eligibility Criteria

Lodged by Duncan McNeil Members' Business Motion 22 supporters

The motion

That the Parliament acknowledges that it has been six months since Transport Scotland published the analysis of its call for evidence on extending the Blue Badge scheme to include people with mental health conditions; understands that there was overwhelming support for an extension in the evidence; notes in particular the evidence from Down's Syndrome Scotland that “… some people with Down’s syndrome who can walk may still represent a danger to themselves and to the safety of others because they have little awareness of traffic … The extension of eligibility criteria would thus recognise that their condition may result in compromising their safety and posing a danger to others too”; considers that a discrepancy has emerged whereby children under 16 with Down's syndrome and other conditions, in Greenock and Inverclyde and across Scotland, are assessed for a Blue Badge more strictly than those over 16, who can be assessed under the more flexible personal independence payment system; understands that a working group is to be established to consider the implications of an extension of the Blue Badge eligibility criteria; commends to that working group the understanding that Wales has led the way in Welsh Statutory Instrument 2014/3082 extending eligibility to people who, as a result of a mental disorder, are unable to follow the route of a familiar journey without the assistance of another person, and hopes that the working group can reach a swift conclusion.

Supporters (22)