5A nationwide ban
59.We were struck by the amount of evidence we received about the impact of pavement parking on people’s daily lives and the depth of feeling there was about how this one activity can harm people’s everyday lives.108 There were concerns, if a nationwide ban on pavement parking were to be implemented, about local authorities being able to make exemptions to best suit their local circumstances. There were also concerns raised in the evidence about street clutter,109 cost110 and difficulty of exempting specific areas from a pavement parking ban.111 However, this must be balanced against the serious negative consequences that pavement parking has on some of the most vulnerable in our society. We recognise that a nationwide ban on pavement parking would have an impact on some drivers who live on narrow residential streets with limited off-street parking and need their cars to get around.
60.The then Minister, Michael Ellis MP, told us that if the TRO process were used to make exemptions to a ban it would cost “at least £1,000 per street”.112 He had not considered modelling any exemption order process on that used in London for more than 40 years, which is cheaper and simpler than a TRO—see Chapter 2, above.113 The then Minister said that in his view the option to do nothing was “not necessarily a bad option”.114 We disagree.
61.We recommend that, in the long term, the Government legislate for a nationwide ban on pavement parking across England, outside London. The legislation should give the Secretary of State for Transport powers to make secondary legislation setting out exemptions that local authorities can make from a nationwide ban. We recommend that the Government include in the legislation a provision for a new exemption order process based on the London model. The specific nature of those exemptions should only be determined following public consultation and the full involvement of local authorities across England. It should include a full impact assessment to weigh the resource implications to local authorities of different options. The enforcement of this ban should lie with local authorities and not the police who do not have time to enforce parking offences.
62.A public information campaign surrounding this work will help the public understand where they can park, the effects of pavement parking and where to report these offences. We recognise that this fundamental change cannot happen overnight, but the Government must commit to legislating on this issue before the end of this Parliament. In the meantime, we have set out some short- and medium-term options that could be delivered before a ban was in place.
108 41% of the evidence received supported a total ban on pavement parking.
Published: 9 September 2019