Motor Vehicles: Disability

(asked on 24th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) the provision of fewer parking spaces and (b) other provisions to encourage people to drive less do not adversely affect the (i) independence and (ii) confidence of people with mobility issues.


Answered by
Chris Heaton-Harris Portrait
Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This question was answered on 30th November 2020

The Active Travel Fund was announced on 9 May and provided £225m of funding for local authorities to enable them to reallocate road space and make changes to road layouts in response to COVID-19.

Alongside the funding, the Department published statutory guidance to local authorities under the Traffic Management Act 2004. This provides advice on the changes that Government expects them to make to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians. It is for local authorities to decide what specific measures are appropriate on their roads to achieve this. They are responsible for ensuring that their actions are within the law and are accountable to local people for their decisions and their performance.

The updated guidance reiterates what consultation requirements apply, and that the needs of disabled people must be taken into account and that an Equalities Impact Assessment should be carried out for proposed changes. It also makes clear that any changes to Blue Badge parking provision must be carefully considered and that local groups representing disabled people should be consulted.

The guidance is available at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reallocating-road-space-in-response-to-covid-19-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities.

Reticulating Splines