Liberal Democrats have called-in changes to the council’s footstreets policy amid fears that disabled residents were not properly consulted about the proposals.
Under changes agreed by Labour’s Transport Boss, Dave Merrett, last Monday, accessible parking for disabled people will be reduced around the St Sampson’s Square area of the city centre. At the moment, residents with green permits are exempt from access restrictions and are allowed to enter Davygate, St. Sampson’s Square and Church Street; then park for up to 3 hours. Around 1500 disabled residents currently hold green permits in York. The changes will restrict access along Davygate and cut the 57 potential parking spaces for disabled residents by around 1/3. There are concerns that the plans will rule certain places out of reach to residents with mobility problems.
Liberal Democrat Councillors Keith Aspden and Nigel Ayre along with Independent Councillor Lynn Jeffries have called-in the proposal for further review amid concerns that there was no proper consultation. Their call-in states that they want the policy reassessed for the following reasons:
• The lack of evidence of consultation with affected groups (badge/permit holders). The council report admits that “The responses to the questionnaire (Annex A) on this issue demonstrate strong support for reviewing access and parking (Q1). However, it does also need to be said that of those responding to the questionnaire very few are holders of either Blue badges or Green permits (Q4), hence the views expressed are predominately from those with no or little difficulty with their own mobility.”
• The lack of an EIA (Equality Impact Assessment) or CIA (Community Impact Assessment).
• The misleading claim that there are no equalities implications to this decision.
• The policy did not go through the EAG (Equality Advisory Group) or face similar levels of scrutiny.
Councillor Nigel Ayre, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Equalities, commented:
“I agree with a lot of the footstreets review; however, the proposals to cut parking for disabled residents by a third seem to have been very poorly prepared. There is no evidence that Labour consulted with affected residents or with disability groups before agreeing these plans. No Impact Assessment was carried out and the policy was not independently scrutinised. In a bizarre claim the council report actually says that cutting car parking spaces for disabled residents will have no affect on disabled residents. If the issue wasn’t so serious this staggering incompetence would be comical.
“Unfortunately, it is typical of this Labour administration that they cut adult social care without proper consultation, cut salt bins despite a report saying the changes would hit elderly, less mobile and vulnerable residents in the winter months, and now cut parking spaces for disabled residents without apparently consulting them. On top of this they are pushing through plans that will effectively abolish the council committee that is there to scrutinise policy on the elderly, disabled and vulnerable. Labour talk about fairness, but their policies do not match their rhetoric.
“The call-in should ensure that the policy is properly analysed and Labour is forced to either provide evidence of any consultation or commit to consulting before the changes are implemented. It is the minimum that should be expected for a decision that will impact upon some of the most vulnerable residents in our community.”
ENDS