The Scottish Parliament has passed new legislation which will see the introduction of fines for motorists wrongly parking in disabled bays.
Currently, 85% of disabled parking bays are not enforceable by law, and recent research carried out by the big four UK supermarkets found one-fifth of cars parking in the advisory spaces were ‘abusing’ the privilege. Jackie Bailie, Labour MSP for Dumbarton, brought the proposals to parliament after calling for the rules to be tightened.
The Disabled Persons’ Parking Places Bill received cross-party support and will introduce fines of up to £60 for motorists parking in disabled spaces without a blue badge. Local authorities would be required to work with supermarkets and shopping centres to reach an agreement for making disabled spaces in private car parks enforceable.
Transport minister, Stewart Stevenson, told parliament: ‘One of the first duties placed on local authorities by the Bill is to carry out an audit of all advisory disabled parking places in each authority.
‘The Bill allows 12 months to carry out this audit. Once completed, there will be a better idea of the number of spaces which require to be made enforceable.’
Stevenson added that officials would consult local authorities on the drafting of guidance for completing annual reports regarding councils’ performances relating to disabled parking places.
Last October, the UK Government dedicated £55M to ensuring the disabled parking scheme met the needs of the 21st century.
In the biggest review of the blue badge since it was created in 1971, the Government said it intended to give local authorities the power to confiscate stolen or forged badges, improve badge security features, and backed the British Retail Consortium’s attempts to reduce abuse in its members’ car parks.
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