Parking Charges: Chippenham

Rishi Sunak Excerpts

Wednesday 13th June 2018 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Rishi Sunak)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, especially in this Wiltshire-themed debate.

[James Gray (in the Chair)]

Order. It might be helpful to remind the Chamber that although it is a Wiltshire-themed debate and I am a Wiltshire MP, I am here as Chairman and therefore I neither agree nor disagree with anything that might be said.

[Rishi Sunak]

Point noted, Mr Gray.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) on securing this important debate. She has been an incredibly long-standing champion for parking in her local area. From the moment she arrived in this place—and before—not only has she advocated on behalf of her constituents, but she spoke passionately about the Parking (Code of Practice) Bill on which I had the pleasure of leading for the Government some time ago. That Bill would clamp down on rogue parking operators, and she made a powerful speech in that debate.

My hon. Friend is also a champion of small businesses, and in many debates she has spoken with authority and passion about the importance of supporting small businesses, just as she did today. I congratulate her on all those things, and I very much agree with the central premise of what she is saying: high streets and town centres are a crucial part of our local and national economy, creating jobs, nurturing small businesses, and injecting billions of pounds into the economy. Key to a thriving town centre and high street is accessibility, and effective parking is a key element of that. The ability of shoppers and visitors to park is integral to increasing and maintaining footfall on our high streets.

For many people, their day begins and ends with parking their car. Local authorities should analyse people’s need for parking provision, and adjust their strategies to support local need. Suitable parking provision is a matter on which local authorities must decide what is best for their area, as I am glad my hon. Friend acknowledges. As our communities are all diverse and unique, there should not be a one-size-fits-all approach, or a directive that comes from this office, and instead parking should be managed intelligently and be part of a wider holistic transport plan that is tailored to the needs of each local area.

The Government, together with key stakeholders and partners, promote the use of best practice and encourage the sharing of what does and does not work. We support the use of innovative techniques, such as flexible tariffs and the use of mobile technology, to create the most enjoyable experience for visitors to our towns and high streets. On that point, I am very happy to look at the Department’s current operational guidance, which it provides to local authorities, to see whether there is any merit in revisiting it and making sure that best practice is more widely shared, as was suggested by my hon. Friend. I will also have that conversation with the Local Government Association in my work with it on this topic and others.

Research by the British Parking Association and the Association of Town and City Management shows that flexible and intelligent tariffs are a factor in the success of parking management strategies for high streets and towns. Perhaps that is the type of research that my hon. Friend would like to be shared more broadly. Richmondshire District Council instigated free parking for the Tour de Yorkshire in May. That encouraged people to come and enjoy a fantastic event. As the peloton travelled through my constituency, it was a boost to local businesses, supporting community spirit.

Unrestricted free parking is not always a magic bullet: it can have a negative impact on town centre footfall if spaces are used more often by workers or commuters parking all day, meaning that spaces are not available for leisure users such as shoppers. There is a balance to strike. Intelligent tariffs, such as reduced parking charges or free parking, can be used effectively to incentivise people to visit their high street. My hon. Friend mentioned reducing the cost of parking to support local markets and events, or even during off-peak periods. That is a tool that the Government would urge local authorities to consider when developing high street parking strategies.

New technologies are supporting better access to high street and town centre parking. Technologies such as AppyParking give real-time reports of on-street and off-street parking availability, and they interface with payment apps used by local councils to offer a one-stop shop that allows users to find and pay for parking. Similarly, car parks are increasingly embracing technology to improve accessibility to customers. Larger parking companies, including NCP, now offer the ability to book spaces, giving motorists certainty that they can access high streets and economic centres conveniently.

My hon. Friend spoke clearly on the subject of high streets, and parking strategies that support our high streets and market towns are more important than ever. High streets are changing: we see it happening around us every week and the Government are committed to helping communities adapt. If a high street or market town centre is to flourish, local people, businesses and councils in an area need to work together to develop their own unique offer for the high street and town centre that resonates with the local community. It is not just about retail. People care about high streets because they are the centres of their community. Consumers are looking for a range of experiences when they visit a high street, from leisure to health services. I am pleased to say that the Government are taking forward a wide range of measures to support high streets and businesses.

In Chippenham, as my hon. Friend will know, there is a growth deal project to improve the train station. The project aims to enhance the station facilities and to develop the surrounding land for improved commercial and residential property, including increased car parking capacity. She was right to point out that local authorities should ensure that there is adequate provision for parking in town centres. My understanding is that, through that project, car parking capacity at the station will double, which I hope is welcome. In addition, there will be public realm improvements to signpost to the high street to improve access.

More broadly, since 2010 the Government have helped to create more than 360 town teams and have given more than £18 million to towns. That has included successful initiatives such as Love Your Local Market, and the Great British High Street competition. We also support Small Business Saturday UK. An estimated £748 million was spent with small businesses across the UK for Small Business Saturday UK 2017, which was up 4% on the previous year’s spend. I know that my hon. Friend, as a devout and passionate supporter of small business, will welcome those measures, and no doubt she has been involved in supporting them in her area. The Government also established the future high streets forum, which is chaired by the Minister for local growth, my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry). The forum consists of developers, investors and retailers and provides leadership from the Government and the business community to support our high streets and town centres to adapt and compete in the face of changing consumer and social trends.

We also believe in celebrating success, including the wonderful work that communities put into their high streets, making them community hubs. The Great British High Street awards highlight some of the excellent examples of high streets up and down the country. Members may know that the last awards, in 2016, garnered more than 900 applications across 15 categories, and more than half a million people participated in the voting.

Because of the knowledge and insight with which my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham speaks on matters relating to parking and the success of high streets, I have spoken to the local growth Minister, who has responsibility for high streets, and arranged for her to meet him at the earliest opportunity to convey her views on how parking should feed into the Government’s wider strategy on high streets. The Minister is working intently on the topic as we speak, and exciting things are to happen in the near future, so I urge her to meet him as soon as she can to feed in some of her ideas.

My hon. Friend asked about consultations, and I am pleased to tell her that the Government are developing the secondary legislation under the Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Act 2017. The Act provides for powers to simplify the procedure for lower parking charges. It also introduces a requirement for local authorities to consult businesses and communities on increasing charges, to ensure that local decisions are informed by local views. I know she will welcome that.

I think that we can all agree that parking provision is essential to making our high streets accessible, and to supporting them as vibrant economic centres. An intelligent and tailored parking strategy, taking account of local needs and designed to support high streets and town centres, should be central to local authorities’ transport plans. Suitable parking tariffs and, where appropriate, free or discounted parking are positive elements of such plans. We will continue to work with local authorities and key stakeholders to ensure that our high streets thrive in the future.

I end by echoing what I said in beginning: I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate and for continuing the work that she does to champion her constituents, in this instance in relation to parking but, more generally, in the matter of supporting high streets and small businesses. She has been a tireless advocate of her constituents on those issues and I know that she will continue to press me and other members of the Government to ensure that they get the best possible deal.

Question put and agreed to.