1 Introduction
1. Effective parking strategies help to reconcile
the competing demands of different road users. Parking restrictions
are used to manage congestion and ensure that there is clear and
fair access to public roads. The enforcement of parking restrictions
should help to ensure that the needs of residents, shops and businesses
are met. Local authorities have primary responsibility for setting
parking policy and enforcement strategies on local roads. The
majority of local authorities (around 90%) have adopted civil
parking enforcement powers which now operate under Part 6 of the
Traffic Management Act 2004 which came into effect in 2008.[1]
This means that parking offences on public roads are not dealt
with by the police but by local authorities and, if necessary,
by independent traffic tribunals which hear appeals.
2. Parking enforcement is an emotive issue and
there is a widespread perception that local authorities use it
principally to raise revenue. Last year we invited the public
to suggest subjects for future inquiries. Local authority parking
enforcement was one of the suggestions we received, which prompted
us to carry out this inquiry. In January we launched a call for
evidence seeking views on the adequacy of current arrangements
for parking enforcement, in particular, we asked the following
questions:
- How should councils use their
revenue from penalty charges, metered parking, car parks and residents'
parking? Should there be more local discretion over how income
is used?
- What impact will new technology, such as cashless
parking, parking sensors and CCTV, have on local authority parking
enforcement?
- How effective are the Traffic Penalty Tribunal
for England and Wales and the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service
for London?
- Should parking policy in London be subject to
separate provisions and guidance, given, in particular, its large
parking revenue surpluses, its more integrated public transport
network and the number of foreign-registered vehicles in the city?
- How can local authorities strike a balance between
using parking policy to manage congestion and using it to encourage
people into town centres?
- How can smaller local authorities use parking
provision to manage congestion? Do they need to work regionally
and strategically with neighbouring councils?
- What role does the Workplace Parking Levy have?
Would people be more inclined to use park and ride services if
there were a charge to park at work?
- Are there steps local authorities can take, while
managing congestion, to make it easier for businesses to trade
and make deliveries?
- Are parking signs clear and comprehensible? To
what extent are unclear signs and instructions the cause of breaches
of parking control?
3. We received a large number of written submissions
and heard oral evidence on 10 June and 8 July from a wide range
of interested parties. We thank all those who provided evidence
to this inquiry. During our inquiry our Chair wrote a blog post
on the Which? Conversation website, which generated over one hundred
comments on the impact of parking policy and enforcement on local
town centres.[2] In July
our Chair visited the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS),
to see firsthand how the appeals service works. We are grateful
to London Councils and the PATAS Chief Adjudicator for facilitating
a useful visit. Finally, we would like to thank our specialist
adviser, Mike Talbot, for his assistance in this inquiry.
4. This report provides an overview of the key
issues in parking enforcement. In chapter two we outline the regulatory
framework for parking enforcement. In chapter three we discuss
the motivation for enforcing parking restrictions, the impact
of these restrictions on town centres and local businesses, and
the controversial subject of revenue raising. In chapter four
we provide more detail about the civil enforcement process, including
the issuing of penalty charge notices, representations to local
authorities, and the appeals process.
1 Ev 32, para 2 [Department for Transport] Back
2
Which? Conversation website, "Does parking enforcement put
you off your local high street?" and "Your view: are
parking charges killing our high streets?", June 2013, http://conversation.which.co.uk Back
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