Chamber and committees

We have some estimates, but again we are working with SCOTS—that is, the transportation officers—and with local authorities on what they think that they will need. Obviously, it is part of the on-going discussion that we are having with COSLA and local authorities.

It would be a commonsense approach for a local authority to determine in its own local area whether it has such bays and what it needs. It is important to understand that you have in front of you the regulations for the enforcement and the penalties and so on. It will be a matter for local authorities to establish in their own local areas how, and the degree to which, the regulations are enforced and how the exemptions—as opposed to the areas that are already designated for parking—are treated.

Thank you for inviting me to provide evidence on the Parking Prohibitions (Enforcements and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023.

As members are aware, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 prohibits pavement parking, double parking and parking at dropped kerbs and provides for penalty charges to apply where those prohibitions are contravened. To support that, the regulations laid in Parliament last month provide local authorities with the procedure to follow when enforcing the parking prohibitions. That will enable them to issue penalty charge notices to those in contravention of those prohibitions of £100, reducing to £50 if paid within 14 days.

That brings to a conclusion a significant package of work that was progressed following the implementation of the act, including regulations that were brought into force in December 2022 that gave local authorities a procedure to follow to exempt areas of footway in their areas from the pavement parking prohibitions. We have also progressed commencement regulations to bring the relevant provisions of the act into force. Passing these regulations will be the final part of enabling those important parking prohibitions to come into effective operation.

Earlier this year, as part of the development of the regulations, a public consultation was carried out. Almost 500 responses were received from a mix of individuals, local authorities and community councils. The feedback from the consultation showed that the public are overwhelmingly in support of the regulations to improve accessibility on our roads and pavements.

My officials have been working closely with local authorities across Scotland to assist them in preparing for the regulations coming into force. The input received was vital in shaping the regulations that are now under discussion. In addition, my officials continue to work closely with local authorities and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to identify what further funding will be required to facilitate the implementation of the regulations and provide support to authorities in setting up back-office functions to enforce the regulations effectively.

The regulations and the subsequent parking standards guidance, which will go hand in hand with the regulations, are needed to provide local authorities with a procedure to follow when enforcing the parking prohibitions and will be in line with the powers that are provided in the 2019 act. They also set out the procedures to be followed in relation to the appeals process and the circumstances in which a penalty charge notice may be appealed. The regulations also lay out the procedures to be followed in respect of the keeping of accounts and the purposes for which any financial surplus can be used.

It is important to stress that inconsiderate, obstructive or dangerous parking can and does cause serious problems for everyone and puts the safety of pedestrians and other motorists in jeopardy. The parking prohibitions are aimed at promoting, supporting and advancing the rights of pavement users, to ensure that our pavements and roads are accessible for all. Transport Scotland will also launch an awareness campaign in the coming days to ensure that the public are aware of the new regulations and the fact that local authorities will have the power to issue and enforce penalty charge notices from 11 December, should the regulations be approved by Parliament.

The campaign will focus on changing the behaviour of drivers who park inconsiderately and on raising awareness of the impact that that can have on all pavement users. I am happy to answer any questions that the committee might have on the content of the regulations.

I am happy to just move it.

I move,

That the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee recommends that the Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 be approved.

The guidance is being prepared and finalised. Mr Doris makes a very good point, and I am sure that, if it is not already shaped in the guidance, we could consider putting it in. It is a very good point; it is not about whether the regulations have either a mass impact or an impact on the quality of life for one individual, because both are important.

I was keen to bring forward the marketing campaign because, although there was a lot of awareness at the time that the Government adopted Sandra White’s member’s bill into the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which was passed at the end of that year, time has passed since the ban was brought in on double parking, dropped kerb parking and pavement parking. That is why it is important to remind people that the Parliament passed that law in 2019, and that what is happening now is the delivery, the operation and the final elements of bringing it into force by providing the enforcement and the penalty notice process.

There has to be action on awareness, because of the passage of time. There is a duty and responsibility on us all to help in making sure that people are aware—because, I suspect, they might not be aware. Although they might be aware of pavement parking as an issue, they are not necessarily aware of the dropped kerb issue. That is a challenge because, as you said, people might not be sighted on dropped kerbs. Again, it is for local authorities and their enforcement officers to identify what is reasonable or unreasonable, and what a commonsense approach would be in such a situation.

The committee looked at the exemptions process in the regulations last year. That is the process to enable local authorities to identify such exemptions, and part of that is consultation that the authorities carry out. I do not know what has happened in each of the 32 local authorities, but that is the process for identifying streets where there might be issues. My understanding is that local authorities are able to advertise whether an area is eligible for pavement parking. Some authorities have done that work, and some are in the process of doing it. Again, though, they will need to take a commonsense view as to what is practical. At the same time, this is, as you have said, about how we make sure that our streets are accessible.

I will ask Elise McIntyre to come in on that.

I think that that is normal practice for these things.

Perhaps I can answer that, because I asked quite a similar question. There are many important provisions within the 2019 act, so we must ensure that they can come into force.

The act became legislation around the end of 2019. Not long after that, we headed into the pandemic and people working right across Government were diverted from legislative and other policy work into managing the pandemic. Understandably, the provisions, including any corrections, were delayed. A number of provisions are now in process and instruments have already been laid that will help us to implement the powers that are within the 2019 act.