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Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab/Co-op)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell. I am grateful for this opportunity to debate the Select Committee on Transport report “Local Authority Parking Enforcement”, along with the Government response. The topic was chosen following requests from members of the public, who are regularly invited to suggest subjects for the Committee’s inquiries. In January 2013, we launched a call for evidence seeking views on the adequacy of current arrangements for parking enforcement. We published our report in October 2013 and received the Government response last January. Public interest in the subject is strong, and today’s debate is timely.
Parking policy is a crucial element of transport strategy and an important part of transport management. In 2011-12, Aberystwyth spent a year without parking enforcement, which provided an alarming insight into what life would be like in our town and city centres if there were no wardens. NCP stated that in that year, Aberystwyth became
“the worst place in the country to find a parking space”,
and Aberystwyth’s chamber of commerce observed:
“It has been chaotic, especially for people with disabilities or delivery drivers. On balance, shoppers and the public generally will welcome the re-introduction of wardens.”
Although parking policy is important in its own right, it should be integrated with broader transport planning. Local authorities must balance the needs of different road users according to local circumstances, and parking enforcement is one tool to achieve that objective. It must be linked with providing good public transport. Joined-up transport planning involves striking a balance between tackling congestion and maintaining the accessibility of town and city centres. Particular concerns have been raised about the impact of parking policies on local shopping. Innovative measures to address it could include allowing free parking for limited times at certain times of the day, providing discount vouchers for customers who pay for parking and enabling local businesses to validate parking tickets so that customers get some money off parking. Those are just some of the suggestions that the Committee made in addressing the issue.
The response to our inquiry highlighted a deep rooted public perception—it is not necessarily the reality—that parking enforcement is used as a cash cow by local authorities. Taken together, in 2012-13, local authorities in England made a surplus of £594 million from parking activities. However, those surpluses were not evenly distributed. Seven of the 10 highest surpluses were in London; the largest profit, £39.7 million, was in Westminster. There are also more than 50 local authorities that operate parking services at a loss. Using parking charges and fines for the express purpose of raising revenue is neither acceptable nor legal. Any surplus created must be applied to transport purposes, which can include traffic management or investing in public transport.
How can the issue be addressed? First, more transparency is required. All local authorities should issue annual reports showing income from both parking charges and penalties, along with how any surpluses were applied. In addition, local authorities should show the criteria that they use in assessing their penalty charge system. There is sometimes a suspicion that targets for penalty charge notices have been set in order to maximise income. In response to our recommendations, the Government response stated:
“The Government supports greater transparency in local authority parking accounts. Local authorities should collect and publish data on revenue collected”
from parking meters and enforcement notices.
The Department added:
“The revised code of transparency for local government states that local authorities must place a link on their website”
to data showing
“revenue collected from on-street and off-street parking and parking enforcement notices.”
Is the Minister confident that all local authorities are now following the revised code of transparency for local government by providing that link?
In addition to our recommendations on transparency, we made two proposals on enforcement. First, we concluded that parking enforcement should attempt to minimise the number of penalty charge notices issued to motorists who have made honest mistakes, for example due to unclear signage. We asked local authorities to pay special attention to people who have simply made a mistake. In addition, we recommended changes. We suggested that the Department for Transport statutory guidance should stipulate that local authorities should implement a five-minute grace period after the expiry of paid-for time. The Government described this proposal as “worthy of consideration” and included it in the consultation paper on local authority parking.
The consultation closed on 14 February. I hope that the Minister will update Members on the consultation response to our recommendation of a five-minute grace period and set out how he intends to proceed in that regard. The Committee also called for the end of the routine use of CCTV to impose fines. The blanket use of CCTV does not always show the full picture. For example, it does not always show whether a vehicle is being loaded or whether a motorist has a permit to park where they have stopped.
The Committee also recommended significant changes on penalty charge discounts. Currently, fines paid within the first 14 days receive a 50% discount. If a motorist appeals and loses the appeal, there is no discount. We proposed a 25% discount for motorists who pay within seven days of losing an appeal to a tribunal. In the Government response, the Department stated that the suggestion was “worth wider consideration” and included it in the local parking enforcement consultation. Will the Minister update Members on the consultation response to our recommendation of a 25% discount and set out how he intends to take the matter forward?
The Committee noted that some local authority parking enforcement regimes effectively force some companies required to make deliveries at given times to incur penalty charge notices that can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, simply for operating their businesses. We even heard of a millionaires’ club of companies that accept that they will have to pay more than £1 million a year in charges due to penalty charge notices that they cannot avoid. We concluded that that is unacceptable and asked the Government to convene a round table discussion with road hauliers and local authorities to identify ways to address the problem. In response, the Government stated:
“We agree that a round table discussion might be useful and DFT will talk to local authorities and the freight industry to see how this might be organised.”
Again, will the Minister update us on the progress in setting up such a discussion, and does he have any other proposals for alleviating that particular burden on business?
Finally, I would like to discuss an outstanding issue: the enforcement of penalty charges on non-UK vehicles. We recommended that
“the Government initiate discussions at a European level on the feasibility of introducing EU-wide powers for the cross-border enforcement of parking penalty charges”.
The Department responded by saying that
“many Member States have reservations about data sharing and the general security of individual citizen’s data across international borders for non-criminal contraventions.”
The UK is apparently one of those member states. For example, the Government response highlighted that it
“would not opt in to a European Directive facilitating cross-border enforcement in the field of road safety…which would not be in the UK’s interests.”
I am somewhat puzzled by that. Does the Minister believe that cross-border enforcement of parking charges is a desirable objective? What discussions have taken place at an EU level? What are the Government’s objections to proceeding? If there is no action at a European level or if the UK will not be part of any action that other European countries are proposing to be involved in, is it possible to achieve the same objective without engaging with other European countries?
Parking policy will always arouse strong emotions. Motorists faced with what is perceived to be unduly high charges or unfair penalties will feel unjustly treated. However, parking management is required to reconcile the competing demands of different road users and to prevent congestion. I hope that the report and its recommendations contribute to making parking policies fair to all.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr Rosindell, and to follow the distinguished Chair of the Select Committee on Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman), in raising the report with the Minister. I look forward to his comments and those of the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden).
I am a relatively new member of the Transport Committee, which I assume is why the current membership list on the first page of the report states:
“Jim Fitzpatrick (labour, Poplar and Limehouse)”—
Labour with a small l—while every other member’s party is spelled with a capital letter. Perhaps that is a demarcation issue for the Stationery Office, but I take it as no slight. My contribution will be brief and may repeat some of the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside, because the Government’s response to our report, which they have been good enough to provide, leads to some questions.
My first point, already raised by my hon. Friend, is about the consultation that ran until 14 February, which is mentioned in the opening paragraphs of the Government’s response. How is that consultation going? When might we expect its findings to be published?
On recommendation 1, about pavement parking¸ the Government response states:
“In 2011 the Department for Transport gave all local authorities in England the authority to introduce local restrictions on pavement parking”.
How many local authorities acted on that advice? The Minister may not have that information, but given that the Government issue guidance and authority to local councils, it would be interesting to know how many took it seriously and responded locally.
The Government’s response to recommendation 2 states:
“The Government will consider the views of stakeholders and respond to the consultation in the first half of 2014.”
Is that on track? Given that we are now approaching April, can the Minister be more specific than “first half of 2014”?
In response to recommendation 3, the Government say that the Department for Transport
“intends to revise and update its statutory guidance to local authorities on parking enforcement.”
As my hon. Friend suggested, it would be interesting to know when the Government expect to be able to do that.
The Government responded to recommendation 5, about regimes, by saying:
“We agree that a roundtable discussion might be useful and DfT will talk to local authorities and the freight industry to see how this might be organised.”
Has a roundtable taken place? Will one take place? London had a positive experience during the Olympics, when so many deliveries were made out of hours. Local authorities introduced new procedures, such as adjusting vehicles to ensure that radios turn off when cab doors open and installing rubber wheels on delivery trolleys. Local authorities and businesses adopted all manner of simple but sensible arrangements, so that middle-of-the-night deliveries were almost silent. I recall that there were no complaints that the system did not work well, so there is room for optimism that such procedures could be adopted in other places with congestion.
Recommendation 6 asked that the Government
“provide greater clarity on the rules for loading and unloading”.
The Government said that they
“will review its guidance to local authorities and will update it as appropriate.”
Has that happened? Will that happen?
The Government’s response to recommendations 7, 10 and 13 are identical. In all three answers, they said that local authorities
“should collect and publish data”
and that the
“revised Code of Transparency for Local Government states that local authorities must”
publish data on revenue collected and parking enforcement fines. What discussions has the Minister had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whose Parliamentary Private Secretary, the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw), is present and is taking a great interest in the debate? Has the Department for Transport met the Local Government Association? What progress has been made on the publishing of data? Are local authorities routinely publishing such data? Is the Department is happy with the progress of authorities that previously did not publish as much data, if any? It seems sensible that residents should be able to see, as my hon. Friend the Chair of the Transport Committee suggested, whether parking and enforcement fines are appropriate and are being used to pay for enforcement officers, CCTV cameras and appropriate road markings and signage. The publishing of such data provides an easy way for residents to be reassured that the balance is right. I am sure the Minister will have information on how well it is going.
In response to recommendation 12, the Government state:
“Consultation of draft regulations is programmed for spring 2014, to come into effect by March 2015.”
Is that on time? As a former Minister responsible for time at the Department of Trade and Industry, I know that time in the civil service lexicon is a vey flexible feast. I have told the story of when I had to sign off an answer to a parliamentary question asking, “When will this be done?” and the answer from the civil servant was “by autumn”, so I asked the civil servant, “What does autumn mean?” and I was told that autumn was 23 December, because that is when the autumn session of Parliament started. Most people would probably think that we were pretty much into winter by that time, so what does “spring” mean? Is that the Easter recess? Is it the Whitsun recess? Or is it the middle of July at the start of the summer recess? I suspect that it is probably the July date, which would give the Government more time—I am not quibbling about that—but it would be nice to know what spring means in this context.
My penultimate comment is on recommendation 17 and the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside about the general European-wide power. While the Government state that they remain
“open to considering a general European-wide power”,
they say later in the response:
“In March 2011 the Government announced that it would not opt in to a European Directive facilitating cross-border enforcement in the field of road safety.”
Many of us were unhappy about that at the time and still are. If the Government will not opt in to a directive on road safety, which most of us would deem far more important than parking—notwithstanding how important parking is to drivers across the country—it is disingenuous for them to say that they remain open to a joining a European-wide initiative. If the Government are not going to do that on road safety, surely the Minister can confirm that they will not do it on parking.
I am pleased to see the Minister and his shadow, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield, in the Chamber today. I look forward to their comments.
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell.
I add my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman) and her Committee for the important and detailed report that we are discussing. It is also excellent to see my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) in the Chamber. I was sorry to hear that in the report his party affiliation was spelt with a small “l”. However, whether he was listed as “Labour” or “labour”, he was an ’ell of a Minister and an ’ell of a shadow Minister as well. I thank him for his comments.
I hope that the Minister will not only answer the questions put by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside, but take up the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse—in particular about out-of-hours deliveries, which give rise to important parking issues and issues for other road users, such as pedestrians. Those issues could be important for future cycling strategies and the promotion of cycling safety.
I welcome the opportunity to add my comments on the report, which covers a whole range of areas, from the vitality of our high streets to the confusion all too often caused by parking signage. I also have the chance to explode some of the myths about parking that are circulating and to put the debate on to a more rational basis. It is a little surprising and disturbing to see the high levels at which some of those myths are being promulgated.
Parking issues are raised with me, as a constituency MP, again and again—I am sure I am not alone in that—and the Chair of the Select Committee made the point that parking is a matter of great importance to the public. It might not get the headlines that High Speed 2, airports or rail fares get, but it is important none the less, because getting it right is about achieving the incredibly difficult objective of a simpler and more streamlined door-to-door journey. Get parking wrong and we block people from reaching their destination, causing inconvenience to an awful lot of other people as well; get it right and we enable people to get better access to employment, leisure and high streets, quickly and conveniently.
As the Committee has established, parking is a local issue. If it is going to work, it needs to be fully integrated into local authority transport policy, alongside action on public transport. We expect councils to take responsible and common-sense approaches to parking enforcement. As the Committee reported, that means balancing a number of objectives—improving safety, tackling congestion, improving the environment and managing local traffic—and getting that right is a big challenge, particularly in the UK, a country with one of the highest population densities in the world where local traffic is predicted to increase by more than 40% by 2042. We want safe and sustainable towns and cities, and ones that can support economic growth and be enjoyable places to visit and be part of.
I welcome the Committee’s recommendation that we should leverage local knowledge and expertise to ensure that parking provision meets specific requirements. That means bringing businesses, community groups and residents around the table to find the solutions appropriate for different areas. I want to ask the Minister about the Select Committee’s innovative proposals to ensure that local parking delivers for communities. The report has come out, the recommendations are there and the response has come back, so will the Minister confirm today what policies the Department will adopt in practice to make progress? While he is answering that, perhaps he will also comment on whether the Government will consider the provision of any business rate relief for businesses that invest in affordable town centre parking solutions.
We need not only to ensure that local responsibility is underpinned by clear Government leadership, but to interrogate things a little more. How far is that leadership in place at the moment? The Government talk a lot about localism, but in reality Ministers have all too often devolved responsibility for traffic, road safety and parking policy to councils while depriving them of the resources with which to do those jobs effectively. Local authority budgets have been cut by 40% since 2010 and many councils are struggling to deal with competing transport priorities. The Committee’s call for better national oversight on parking is therefore important.
The report called for strengthened statutory guidance, to clarify and support councils in their parking powers and practice as a priority. As has been said, that might include a national five-minute grace period, which already exists in some local authorities, to underpin a common-sense approach; providing greater support to councils on how they can use parking policy to cut congestion, improve road safety and support growth; promoting best practice and innovative solutions, looking at how initiatives such as the workplace parking levy in Nottingham work; and annual local authority parking reports to improve transparency.
Raising revenue from parking is unlawful, but in reality fewer than one in five councils makes surplus income from parking, and that is not from fines, but from on-street parking. As the Committee pointed out, however, the “cash cow” perception remains, even if that does not reflect the reality. We need clear and accessible reports to clear up the myth and ensure that people have a balanced view of what is and is not going on. The Government have agreed that better oversight is needed and they made multiple references to the revision of statutory guidance in their response to the Committee. Given that that was a priority in the Committee’s report, when are we going to get the statutory guidance?
In addition to recommending increased clarity for local authorities, the report rightly underlines the need to make parking simpler for road users. As my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside said, most people do not intend to break the law, but all too often they are fined because mistakes have been made, and those mistakes might come about because of poor and confusing signage. The Committee was right to call for clarity on the patchwork of pavement parking rules throughout the country, which are confusing for motorists and often dangerous for vulnerable road users. The Committee also urged clarity on the rules for loading and unloading by haulage firms—what my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse said on that was important—and action to rectify persistent problems with poor signage.
We are all anticipating the Government’s review of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002, but what my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse said about the timing of that struck a chord with me. I want to know what “in the spring” means. I have become a little sceptical about the Government’s seasonal promises. At the end of 2012, we were told that a Green Paper on young drivers could be expected in the spring, then in the summer and then before Christmas, but now it does not look as if we will get it before the next general election. Given that fiasco, I hope the Minister will tell us what “the spring” means and whether the review will be produced.
It would be good if the Minister provided us with an expected publication date and set out how a review that plans to increase local variation will ensure national consistency as well. Will he also tell us what action the Government intend to take to make the pavement parking rules clearer than at present? We support innovation and local authority flexibility, but the fact remains that, if it is going to work, parking policy must be developed with the road user in mind, and in a way that road users can understand.
Sadly, to put it bluntly, under this Government we are not getting a coherent response from Ministers. In fact, I think there is a bit of a mess. I welcome the Secretary of State’s decision to freeze the maximum penalty charge—households are struggling with the rising cost of living and it is obviously not good if they are hit hard by charges as well. But I find it difficult to reconcile what the Government are saying now with what they said just three months before the announcement of the freeze, when the former Transport Minister, the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), was proposing to hike parking charges. There does not seem to be great continuity in the Government’s message.
I raise that issue because we are seeing another example of ministerial confusion today, about proposals to ban CCTV for parking enforcement. The Transport Committee pointed out that we need clarity on how cameras are and should be used, as CCTV should be used only where safety and congestion are major issues—for example, around schools, bus stops and pedestrian crossings—and where traditional parking enforcement is difficult. But the move to ban CCTV, if that is indeed what the Government are suggesting, has been opposed by pretty much every single group I have met, including road safety campaigners, local freight groups, bus operators, parking associations and the cross-party Local Government Association.
I have yet to see any evidence base for such a ban. I am prepared to consider it if I see the evidence, but I have not seen any. Ministers have no idea how much revenue councils make from CCTV parking enforcement charges and apparently will not even make an estimate. Given that, we might think it is not a significant problem. If the ban on CCTV goes ahead, however, it could have serious consequences. First, it could have financial consequences. More than 75 councils have made substantial investment in the technology. Mobile CCTV cars cost between £50,000 and £60,000 each, and in a context of slashed council budgets that is a significant sum.
More important than the cost, as many Members have said in the past few months, is the impact the ban could have on road safety. As far as I can tell, CCTV cameras have proved pretty effective in improving safety in high-risk places, such as around schools. To give an example, in Oldham, an 11-year-old girl who was nearly hit by a car outside her school in 2012 campaigned to secure what is called Oscar—the Oldham safety car—a CCTV vehicle that has reduced the number of injuries near schools and improved safety awareness. CCTV for school parking is popular with families. A recent survey showed that 80% of parents in Bromley support its use in those sorts of circumstances. We share the concerns of parents about a policy that could have an impact on the safety of children.
I am therefore shocked that the Government seem prepared to ban CCTV without any economic or safety assessment at all—if indeed that is what they are going to do—and would like the Minister to clarify the following points. First, are the Government proposing to ban CCTV? If they are, what is the evidence on which the proposal will be based, because anecdotes are simply not sufficient? Why will the Government not produce a regulatory impact assessment for the policy? What estimate has the Minister made of the financial support that will need to be given to councils to cover abortive car projects and fund more on-street enforcement? What impact will that have on departmental spending? If the ban on CCTV for civil parking enforcement goes ahead, will primary legislation be required?
Those are genuine questions. Something tells me that they are probably being asked by the Department for Transport as well; it would not surprise me to find that the Minister has been asking one or two questions along those lines himself. There is a rumour abroad that the policy is a bit Pickled. If it is, the sooner we get some clarity on it, the better. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the right hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles)—just to bring him in—has been saying that he wants to give our nation’s high streets a boost, but if that is how he wants to do it, I can think of ways that would be a lot more effective.
How about backing Labour’s pledge to cut business rates for small companies, for example, or creating a British investment bank that has a duty to lend to small and medium-sized enterprises? How about acting on calls from organisations such as Living Streets, which found that supporting high streets actually requires making public spaces more attractive and more accessible, rather than simply providing free parking?
Good traffic and parking management are vital for creating accessible and attractive town centres that can thrive. How will banning the use of technologies such as CCTV achieve that? If I am right in saying that the Department for Transport is not happy and that pressure from another Department is influencing policy on the issue, will the Minister explain why he and his Department are letting another Department dictate transport policy?
There are clearly important issues about parking that need to be addressed. The Transport Committee’s report contains excellent recommendations, and there is consensus across the House on the need for transparency and common sense in local parking policy, underpinned by strong leadership from Government. Sadly, it looks as though Ministers are wasting a lot of time on a bizarre policy to ban CCTV that has no evidence base but does have potentially damaging consequences. It would be better, to be honest, if they were to produce clear time scales and action plans to back up their response to the recommendations in the Select Committee’s report.
I hope that the concerns and issues raised today—principally those raised by the Select Committee, but also those I have raised—will encourage the Minister to think again on the issue of CCTV and start a constructive dialogue on the future of parking in the UK.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell.
I appreciate the work that has been done by the Select Committee in looking at the issue of parking and bringing forward its views, which the Government are considering along with other recommendations that have been brought to us. It is indeed an opportune time to discuss parking issues following the publication of this excellent report and also the Government’s consultation on parking, which concluded on 14 February.
Let me say straight away that we are currently considering over 800 responses to the consultation, and will be responding in full in due course. [Interruption.] I do not know whether, when the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) was in the Department, he had to respond to things in due course, but I reassure him that this matter is in my in-tray and I am giving it a great deal of attention. It has not been parked in the tray marked “too hard to attend to”.
Jim Fitzpatrick
The Minister knows that he is held in high regard by the Opposition, as he is by his Government colleagues. I wish him every success with his in-tray.
Mr Goodwill
I wonder whether the reason why, in the report, there was a small “l” for the party name after the hon. Gentleman’s name is that the word “labour” is used not only as the name of a party but as a reference to someone’s working very hard on a subject. That could well be the reason.
This debate is timely. It is not simply a case of responding to the consultation and considering all the points but ensuring that we have agreement across Departments and across the coalition, as different Ministers may have different priorities when they arrive in Departments.
We ask parking and traffic management to deliver a number of objectives in parallel, and managing those competing demands on our roads will never be simple. The UK has more motor vehicles per mile than France, Germany or even the densely populated Netherlands, and traffic on our roads is forecast to increase. That is why we are investing £24 billion in the strategic road network in this Parliament and the next, a tripling of previous investment levels seen in this country. By 2021, we will be spending £3 billion every year on improvements and maintenance, which is the most significant upgrade of our roads ever. It is also why parking and traffic management have a vital role to play. Effective management enables people, goods and services to get to where they are needed and is essential for a growing economy.
Over the past few years, we have seen major changes in how parking is enforced. More than 90% of local authorities have taken over the civil enforcement of their parking services. I wrote to the other 10% today suggesting, without wanting to impinge on their local decision-making processes, that they look closely at the advantages of opting for civil enforcement. It has improved compliance, reduced congestion, freed up the police and, most importantly, made our roads safer.
When effective parking management breaks down, as in Aberystwyth, and in Scarborough in my constituency, where a couple of enterprising former police officers, armed with tape measures and copies of the science manual, managed to delay the introduction of our civil enforcement, the result is chaos. That is not good news for motorists and certainly not for businesses because it causes real problems. We must keep a close eye on the matter. How parking is managed matters to us all at some level, and we must ensure that the basic rules and regulations help councils to deliver balanced and effective parking strategies.
We are here today to discuss the Transport Committee’s recent inquiry into local parking enforcement and the Government’s recent wide-ranging parking consultation, which invited views on many of the Committee’s main recommendations. Despite what some press reports have claimed, we have not already reached a decision on changes to Government policy following the consultation. I will look carefully at all the responses, and am very aware of the wide range of views among stakeholders about sensitive issues such as camera enforcement.
The Select Committee’s inquiry and our consultation were prompted by three big issues for parking and traffic management: first, the challenges facing our high streets; secondly, the potential for the deployment and use of new technologies to improve the use of our roads, recognising that, in some cases, they cause the public concern; and thirdly, the widespread belief among motorists that some councils seem to view parking enforcement primarily as an opportunity to raise revenue. I will say a few words on each of those issues.
Our high streets are essential to our national life. They bring people together and are at the heart of our daily life and economy. In London, more than half of the jobs in the capital are spread across just 600 high streets, and two thirds of Londoners live within a five-minute walk of their local high street. However, our high streets are going through long-term change. Those changes are significant and require communities to play an active role in shaping their high streets. There are far too many empty shops throughout the country. We have put in place a £1 billion package of support to help local people reinvigorate their high streets. Recent figures show that the number of empty shops on UK high streets fell in December 2013, which was the first time the rate has fallen below 14% since July 2010.
Ensuring that convenient and safe parking is available at reasonable cost is part of the answer and many areas need to improve. During her recent review, Mary Portas found that in many areas
“parking has been run-down, in an inconvenient place, and most significantly really expensive.”
The recent survey from the Association of Town and City Management and the British Parking Association found that some mid-range areas were charging 18% more for parking than larger and more popular retail locations. Indeed, many such locations have free parking. The question for local businesses and residents is: what more is needed to get the local council to improve parking provision in their area?
In the consultation, we suggested one way that could be achieved: by allowing local residents and firms to be able to petition the council to initiate a review of parking policy in their area. That might be a request for lower charges, for a review to see if additional spaces could be provided, or for better street lighting to improve safety.
The second issue is the potential for new technologies to help to manage our roads more effectively. The introduction of GPS-based systems, new sensor technologies and increasing integration with smart-phones can revolutionise parking. When I parked at York station this week, I used my phone and if my return is delayed, I can update my parking period using my phone without the anxiety of perhaps being fined for overstaying.
Better and more efficient parking services can be delivered in real time, bringing benefits to high streets and road users throughout the UK. However, the capabilities of new technologies bring with them an increased responsibility to ensure that parking is enforced fairly and proportionately. I firmly believe that most of those involved in the parking industry, from local authorities to private sector service providers, aim to do just that. However, the use of CCTV, in particular, causes public concern.
The Department’s guidance states that CCTV cameras should be used only where parking enforcement is difficult or sensitive, and enforcement by a civil enforcement officer is not practicable. Cameras can be more contentious than boots on the ground, and the Select Committee took evidence that resident permits and blue badges may not always be visible to cameras. The Committee reported that in some cases cameras are used routinely for on-street parking violations, despite my Department’s statutory guidance. Our consultation also asked about options to address those concerns, bearing in mind that, as the Committee pointed out, cameras can have a useful role in some circumstances, such as outside schools and in keeping bus lanes clear. We must look at the needs of all road users in the round and look for balanced solutions to the issues.
Finally, there is a real problem with the public’s view of local authorities’ approach to parking and traffic enforcement. The Select Committee said that there is a
“deeply rooted public perception that local authorities view parking enforcement as a cash cow”.
From 1997-98 to 2010-11, net surpluses from parking rose from £223 million to £512 million. Net income from local authority parking services is expected to rise from £601 million in 2012-13 to £635 million in 2013-14, an increase of 5.6%. That headline figure reflects parking charges as well as penalties, but I am determined that public confidence in enforcement should not be undermined. The Committee has identified the importance of the Government mandating the production of annual parking reports by local authorities, so the public fully understand the strategies, and where the money from parking goes. We have been very clear that the ring fence on surpluses will remain. Fines for those who break the rules will be used only to improve the roads or environment for those who play by the rules.
The Select Committee asked whether the current system is as fair as it can be for those who inadvertently make a mistake. First, it asked whether independent traffic adjudicators should be able to allow an appeal when they determine that a council has ignored statutory guidance. Secondly, it asked whether the current system acts as a disincentive for people to appeal. There is a legitimate concern that discounts on prompt payment following appeal would result in every charge being appealed so, following the Committee’s recommendation, we have asked whether the introduction of a 25% discount for motorists who pay within seven days of losing an appeal might be worth while. In addition, it might be worth considering whether discount for appeals that are lost could be allowed only if the appeal was made during the period for which the initial discount applied. We will consider that in more detail.
Thirdly, the Committee recommended that the statutory guidance should stipulate a grace period after the expiry of paid-for time. The British Parking Association’s response to the consultation states that in practice most local authorities do that already, so we are also considering whether mandating a grace period of perhaps five minutes after the end of paid-for parking might provide the public with reassurance that they will never be issued with a ticket just one minute after the meter runs out.
The hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman) made several points. She talked about the possibility of validating tickets so that someone who pays in a local authority car park can use that ticket to obtain a discount in a local shop, which would presumably be reimbursed by the local authority—or perhaps by the shop itself as part of a local discount scheme. That already works in some supermarkets to encourage customers only to use those supermarkets, but that is a matter for local councils, as is free parking for short periods at certain times, such as Christmas, which Scarborough borough council provides as a way of getting people into that excellent shopping location.
Are local authorities following the code of practice? If people appeal on the ground that the code of practice was not followed, the adjudicators will see that as important. They will often be sympathetic if people make honest mistakes.
The hon. Lady talked about the response to our consultations. I have some of the responses here. For example, the question was posed:
“Do you think motorists who lose an appeal at a parking tribunal should be offered a 25% discount for prompt payment?”
The overall response was: yes, 44%; no, 56%. However, among individuals, as opposed to organisations—I suspect that quite a lot of councils were among the organisations—54% favoured the rolling forward of the discount and 46% were against, while among organisations only 23% were in favour of rolling forward, while 77% were against. Therefore, even among individuals there was a mixed result.
We also posed the question:
“Do you think that authorities should be required by regulation to allow a grace period at the end of paid for parking?”
There again, the results were balanced. Overall, the response was exactly 50:50. Among individuals 51% were in favour and 49% were against, and among organisations 45% were in favour and 55% were against. The picture from the consultations is not clear on the rolling forward of the discount or the period of grace at the end of paid-for parking. As I have already said, however, many local authorities already have a grace period.
The hon. Lady also asked about pavement parking. We have given local authorities powers on pavement parking, but we do not collect statistics on how many authorities have used those powers. In London, of course, there is an enforceable general ban on parking on the pavement. On guidance issued to local authorities, we are considering the responses to the consultation and we will reply in due course.
On local authority transparency, the Department for Transport does not know whether all local authorities are fully transparent regarding their fine revenues, as that matter is reported to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Jim Fitzpatrick
Before the Minister continues on transparency, he was answering the question on pavement parking that my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside and I raised. That is a huge issue for organisations such as Guide Dogs and Living Streets, which campaign for people with mobility difficulties. He said that he is waiting on the responses and on further consideration by his Department, but will he assure us that he will look carefully at that? As he said, in London the protocol is that such parking is forbidden unless specifically allowed, whereas elsewhere it is almost the reverse of that. Those campaigning organisations would rather see more emphasis on looking after people with disabilities and mobility difficulties than allowing a free-for-all.
Mr Goodwill
The hon. Gentleman is right. I am sure that, like me, he gets letters from constituents complaining about pavement parking. People are often surprised to discover that in many parts of the country such parking is perfectly legal. We have a similar problem with motorcycles in bus lanes, in that we do not have a consistent approach throughout the country.
There was also discussion about non-UK vehicles and whether we engage in cross-border agreements with other member states. We are talking not just about foreign vehicles breaking regulations in the UK, but British drivers caught contravening rules in other parts of the European Union. Although I am sure it would be popular in the UK to ensure that foreign vehicles fully comply with our rules, I suspect that we might see stories in the Sunday newspapers and some of the tabloid press about people being unfairly penalised for potential offences carried out in other parts of the EU where their ability to appeal might be restricted by language difficulties and so on. It does work both ways. Indeed, there is a system for the heavy goods vehicles levy whereby a deposit payment is taken in advance of a court case. In many cases, when the offence is admitted, the deposit is taken in default of the actual penalty.
The hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse talked about fines and foreign-registered vehicles. As the law stands, parking companies and local authorities can and do use European debt collection agencies. We recognise, however, that that may not always be economically realistic and that sharing of vehicle-keeper information to pursue those debts is not currently covered by international treaties. Many member states have reservations about data sharing across borders and any proposal in that area would need to be carefully thought through.
In conclusion, I believe that the majority of local authorities and parking providers are doing very good work. The challenge now is to deliver equally high standards throughout the parking sector as a whole. That means preventing the examples of poor management or bad practice that are so prominent in the media.
As I mentioned, we have received more than 800 responses to the parking consultation. I have no illusions about just how important these issues are, and following those responses and our useful debate I will be looking carefully at the options going forward. Parking and traffic management is important to the public and to our communities, and it is vital to the health of our local economies.
Mrs Ellman
We have had a good, informed debate, helped by the experience of my hon. Friends who have contributed greatly to the discussion. I thank the Minister for his constructive responses. These are important issues that affect people every day and there are not always simple answers. I look forward to hearing more about the Department’s position and about what progress can be made on these recommendations in this important area.
Andrew Rosindell (in the Chair)
That concludes the debate on local authority parking enforcement. The next debate, on access to ports, cannot begin until the Minister has arrived, so regrettably, I have to suspend the sitting. I point out to officials from the Department for Transport that Ministers should be here for the start of a debate. That this has happened is irregular, and I ask for the matter to be taken up with those who organise the Minister’s diary.