Changes could be made to how disabled parking bays in a local authority are granted

Anthony Lewis – Local democracy reporter

Changes could be made to a disabled parking bay scheme in south Wales.

Proposals are being considered by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council to amend the Disabled Persons Parking Bay (DPPB) Scheme following a recent review.

An eight-week consultation on the proposals is set to take place on the proposed changes with the feedback set to form part of a report to a future cabinet meeting.

The proposed new eligibility criteria are that people must possess a valid permanent blue badge, they must have a car registered at their address and the registered owner must live there.

They must not have access to off-road parking, no traffic prohibitions on the road directly outside the main entrance to the property and it would be safe to install a disabled parking bay.

Benefits

They must supply medical evidence from a consultant, specialist nurse or physiotherapist specifically addressing their difficulties related to mobility and parking, and they must be in receipt of one of the below benefits:

• Higher Rate Mobility Component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
  or Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
• War Pension Mobility Supplement.
• Attendance Allowance.

Any costs associated with gathering application documents, including medical evidence, will need to be funded by the applicants and no costs incurred will be reimbursed through the DPPB Scheme by the council so it is proposed that the current £10 admin charge is removed and the council no longer applies a charge for the scheme.

It is proposed that the existing limit for allocating up to 12 disabled parking bays only per year stays but this will be kept under review.

The current cost of running the DPPB scheme is estimated to be around £43,000 a year.

Bays

The review estimated the cost of each parking bay for the last three years the scheme was operating to be £1,159 per bay.

This includes the legal notices, erection of signs, road markings, and traffic management.

But it excludes the costs incurred from management time, assessments, or the application process and so the real cost of each bay is around £3,583.

The removal of unwanted bays also comes at a cost and so the cost of
running the scheme can change from year to year depending on how many bays need to be removed.

Increase

A council report said that the the existing DPPB Scheme was introduced in 2004 and was then amended in 2015 following a review.

Since its introduction the number of people applying for a parking bay has increased significantly with 193 applications received during the last round in 2022-23.

Historically 12 parking bays have been awarded each year based on applicants
meeting some basic eligibility criteria and an assessment from an occupational therapist/occupational therapy assistant.

There is no right of appeal, but applicants can re-apply during the next round.

Since its introduction 269 disabled parking bays have been installed across RCT and of these 115 have been removed leaving around 154 disabled
parking bays in place.

Each bay has its own traffic regulation order, enforceable by the council, and currently anyone with a blue badge can use the bays.

The current scheme charges a £10 non-refundable one-off application fee for all applicants.

The report said that it was thought that the levying of a fee would discourage unwarranted applications.

But this has not happened and the applications received annually have remained high, more than the number of available bays for allocation each year.

Review

The current scheme was suspended in September 2023 pending a full
independent review with Practice Solutions commissioned by the council to carry out the probe during the autumn and winter of 2024 with the final report supplied in February 2025.

The review recommended that the council continue to offer a DPPB Scheme and eligibility criteria to meet the recommendations from the review which were:

• Develop a clear and more transparent process for applicants.

• Introduce more robust criteria and information required to determine eligibility to ensure the best use of limited funds.

• Introduce comprehensive guidance containing the stages of the process,
time scales and information about traffic prohibitions for the applicant.

• Introduce a more efficient screening process at the outset.

• Introduce a system to review the use/abuse of disabled parking bays,
including removal of bays no longer in use.

• Consider removing the application fee and replacing with a new charging
strategy.

• Provide clear written reasons for refusal of a disabled bay to unsuccessful
applicants.

Fees

The report said that councils across Wales use various charging models with most not charging at all and some requiring permits to be paid for annually or an administration fee.

Two councils charge successful applicants £250 and £689 respectively but the report said that many applicants are retired or unable to work and may not be financially able to meet a higher one-off charge.

Under the new proposals applications will be online or in person via a One4All centre with the telephone application option currently available being removed.

The new model would involve an application, eligibility checks, a functional assessment, panel approval, and ongoing management.