The end of the space invaders

Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil has welcomed a change in the law that will see people who abuse disabled parking bays hit with fines.

This week, the Scottish Parliament gave assent to Disabled Persons Parking Places Bill, making all existing disabled parking bays legally enforceable.

Up until now, these bays were only advisory and widespread abuse of the system had caused great inconvenience to blue badge holders.

The scheme will benefit Inverclyde’s 4,700 blue badge holders, many of which have supported the campaign for the bill.

As convenor of the Local Government and Communities Committee, Mr McNeil had been involved in the scrutiny of the bill and spoke in the debate in parliament this week.

He paid tribute to the work of the campaigners whose tireless efforts made this bill happen.

Duncan McNeil said: “Many people have campaigned for this law to be enacted over a number of years and this is a major victory for them.

“Special tribute goes to my colleague Jackie Baillie, who introduced the bill, and she was supported by a number of disability rights groups and individuals keen to see this happen, a good number of which are from Inverclyde.

“The impact this will have on disabled people cannot be underestimated – not being able to park in the reserved bays can be enough to put blue badge holders off the simplestof tasks, such as shopping or going to the doctors.

“And I believe this will have a wider benefit for everyone – research shows that those people who are thoughtless enough to use disabled bays they are not entitled to are prone to other types of criminal behaviour, such as driving cars in illegal condition and other traffic violations.

“Catching these people out and drawing attention to their behaviour is no bad thing. Remember, the Yorkshire Ripper no less was caught because he had dodgy licence plates.”

At present, almost 85 per cent of disabled parking bays are advisory and therefore anyone can park in them without the risk of being penalised.
 
The Bill proposes that a fine of £30, rising to £60 after 14 days, will be applied to those caught using disabled parking bays without entitlement.

ENDS