THERE is concern about proposed changes to how disabled parking bays are issued in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT).
Proposals are being considered by the council to change the Disabled Persons Parking Bay (DPPB) Scheme following a recent review.
Members of the council’s community services committee recently raised concern about people having to pay for medical assessments, the fact that only 12 spaces are allocated and the fact that any blue badge holder can use them not just the resident who has the bay.
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 changes include increased screening at the start of the process, to introduce a requirement for medical evidence, the provide people with a rationale if their application is unsuccessful and to review existing parking bays.
The criteria will include a valid permanent blue badge, a car registered at the address where they live, no access to off road parking and no traffic prohibitions affecting the safety of the bay.
They also include that medical evidence is supplied from a consultant, a specialist nurse or a physiotherapist that specifically addresses their difficulties related to mobility and parking and that the person receives the higher rate mobility component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA), a war pension mobility supplement or attendance allowance.
The proposal is for no charge for the scheme but the person would be responsible for funding all costs associated with gathering documents and medical evidence for their application.
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 annual cost of running the DPPB scheme is estimated to be around £43,000 a year which is £3,583 per bay.
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.
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 and the number of applications received was always in excess of the number of available bays.
The current scheme was suspended in September 2023 pending a full independent review with Practice Solutions commissioned by the council to carry out the review during the autumn and winter of 2024 with the final report completed. in February 2025.
The review recommended that the council continue to offer a DPPB Scheme with recommendations to clarify the eligibility, to introduce a more robust screening process, to review the charge, to introduce a system to remove the parking bay when it was no longer in use and to provide information to unsuccessful applicants.
Sian Nowell, the council’s director of adult services at the council, said that there is a mixed picture across Wales in relation to the charge with very little standardisation of approach.
Councillor Karen Webb said: “It seems to be a bit of a nonsense that someone will go to all of the expense and trouble of needing that space and getting it but then maybe they can’t use it because it’s not only for them. Other people can still park there.”
She asked why can’t the parking space be kept for the person who has applied for it and who has been allocated it.
Sian Nowell said that they would look into that and discuss it with traffic colleagues to see what options there are to maybe make it exclusive use but her understanding was that may not be possible.
Councillor Sheryl Evans said she was “very concerned” about asking people to have a medical report saying it would cost a couple of hundred pounds and be at the discretion of the doctors.
Sian Nowell confirmed they’re not asking for something from a GP but from a a consultant, a specialist nurse or a physiotherapist.
Councillor Ros Davis said the 12 spaces doesn’t sit well with her because as councillors they come across people with really good cases for having the bays but she understood they can’t provide them for everyone who asks for them.
She said that 12 feels “far too low” and that it’s contradictory to ask people to pay considerable sums of money and then find that they don’t have exclusive use.
Councillor Will Jones said the criteria needs to be strict if they’ve only got 12 spaces and said they need to work to make sure that the people that need them have them and that they are their bays.
He said you’ve got to have medical evidence and he said that’s really important for these bays.
