Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to reduce the number of (a) reduce the vehicles that are blocking pavements and (b) unroadworthy vehicles parked for long periods of time in public areas.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Through measures in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill we will implement the necessary primary legislation to allow local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking across their areas, putting power in the hands of local leaders. Even in locations where a pavement parking prohibition does not exist, virtually all local authorities (those with designated civil parking enforcement powers) will be granted the power to tackle the worst instances of pavement parking (unnecessary obstruction), through secondary legislation introduced later this year.
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 gives local authorities the power to remove certain abandoned vehicles without notice. The legislation on abandoned vehicles falls within the remit of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.