9. 8. Motion to Annul the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2016

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:40 pm on 14 June 2016.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 5:40, 14 June 2016

Thank you. Clearly, the opportunity to have further debate would be welcomed if this goes through. Unfortunately, again, that will not be binding. I hope that you would confirm that, if the arguments you hear—some of which I’ve rehearsed today—are persuasive, that that might actually lead to the Welsh Government revisiting this subsequently with a view to making further regulations or further amendments to the regulations accordingly.

I say to Plaid Cymru that I support the objective behind temporary blue badges. This is to help and to maximise the help available to disabled people—disabled by the barriers society places in their way. Had you stood with me, perhaps we could have persuaded the Welsh Government today to agree to bring in a consideration of more flexible measures subsequently and then I could have withdrawn the motion knowing that they’d made that commitment. But, because you’ve rubber-stamped them, we don’t have that commitment. All we now have is a statement with a non-binding outcome. I therefore regret that you haven’t used that perhaps political nous to take that forward on that basis, but there we are. Perhaps, over time, things may change.