Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he will take to ensure that pavement licensing does not hinder access for disabled people.

Our pavement licence measures have a mandatory national ‘no-obstruction’ condition which is applied to all licences granted. This requires that when local authorities are determining whether furniture put on the highway would be an unacceptable obstruction, they will also need to have specific regard to the needs of disabled people, and to any recommended distances required for access by disabled people as set out in guidance issued by the Secretary of State. We have worked closely with groups representing disabled people in developing the guidance.