I was a member of the committee when this inquiry started, but I wasn't on it when the recommendations were drafted, so I'm very pleased to join in on the debate. I think there are several things we need to bear in mind. One is that the more we actually limit the use of cars because of public health issues around air quality or trying to make shopping centres more attractive to people, to pedestrians, we need to ensure that blue badges aren't being used fraudulently to get around these restrictions and to prevent them having to pay for the privilege of using their car on crowded streets. Because in parts of London, the blue badges are changing hands at premium prices on the black market because it allows drivers to park anywhere, and not have to pay to go into the centre of London. So, I think this is a significant issue. Certainly it is there. People with blue badges are advised not to leave their disabled badges visible in their cars, particularly overnight, because otherwise they're simply going to be broken into and the badges stolen. So, we need to ensure that that situation isn't allowed to develop in our cities.

I think that the review is important, to look at the eligibility criteria and to ensure that they're being used logically, so that if somebody is told that they're going to lose their sight in the next few weeks, clearly there is going to be a need for arrangements to be put in place quickly to ensure that their disability needs are going to be met. But at the same time, we have to ensure that we're joining up the dots. I think local authorities need to look at how the provision of a blue badge marries up with the provision of a disabled parking place outside somebody's home, because you can have a car but if you can't then park close enough to where you live, it can be a serious barrier to being able to use that disabled badge. I've got a constituent with an enduring physical disability whose parents are very keen to ensure that their daughter lives as active a life as possible, and this requires them taking her to after-school activities by car, as she would have great difficulty getting her wheelchair on and off a bus and then navigating her way to the venue of the activity. The narrow street where she lives is full of people who are blessed with enough money to have one or even two cars, and fortunately all the neighbours support their application for a disabled parking bay, but this continues to be denied on the grounds that the local authorities visit in the middle of the day, and they inform the family that there's no difficulty parking in the middle of the day—because everybody's used their cars to go to work. But this is not when they need to park. They need to be parking at the end of the day, and their child needs to be able to get into the house without huge complications.

I think, turning to those who cannot afford to have a car, it's disappointing the Welsh Government's rejected recommendation 8, to fast-forward the establishment of joint transport authorities, so that those with lived experience of disability can advise on the best way of meeting the needs of all disabled citizens. That includes those who don't have a car, have never learnt to drive, can't afford a car within their family, but still have disability needs that prevent them simply popping down the shop without having to think about it and make it instead into a whole-day activity. Disability scooters have transformed many people's lives, and it's always wonderful to see elderly people giving a lift to their grandchildren on their scooter. But I also wandered if the Government will give some consideration to the role of electric bikes, which are less unwieldy and can get around corners a lot faster, particularly in crowded spaces, than a disability scooter.

I’m also disappointed that you’ve rejected recommendation 16, because I think even disabled badge holders will contravene the rules. I never stop asking people to move away from the dropped kerb outside my constituency office to enable people in wheelchairs to cross the road. And they say, ‘But I’ve got a disability badge’, and I’m saying, ’You may have a disability badge, but just park a bit further down, so those in a wheelchair can cross the road.’ So, I think that there needs to be a much fiercer system of preventing people parking in disability parking bays who are not entitled to do so.