Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of (a) trends in the level of pavement parking in rural areas and (b) the potential impact of this on (i) wheelchair users (ii) parents with pushchairs and (iii) partially sighted people.

The Government fully understands the problems that vehicles parked on the pavement can cause for pedestrians.

This is particularly the case in certain locations and for certain people, such as those with mobility or sight impairments, those pushing prams or pushchairs, and wheelchair users. The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response in due course.

In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking, and it is up to them to decide where to restrict pavement parking and what enforcement is appropriate.