Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2018 to Question 139598, what steps he has taken to improve the availability of safe, secure and appropriate parking facilities for heavy goods vehicles in terms of (a) planning, (b) the role of Highways England (c) setting standards for lorry parking facilities and (d) tackling illegal parking.

On the 24 July the Government issued a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework that now indicates that the need for sufficient overnight lorry parking should be taken into account in planning policies and decisions. There are already various positive market developments, with operators coming forward with plans for new and expanded sites. In addition, Highways England are currently reviewing their landholdings in order to identify sites with the potential to be developed into lorry parks.

On the 18 May the Department published a comprehensive survey of lorry parking in England, including in relation to welfare standards. On request the Department will share the underlying survey data relating to specific sites, in support of various existing market-led initiatives to improve the transparency around standards. There is a current trial of the use of new enforcement approaches in a part of Kent to deter inappropriate parking that has seen positive results to date. The Government is monitoring the outcomes of the 18-month trial with a view to informing future measures in relation to parking enforcement.