Urban Areas: Access

(asked on 29th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of urban centres; and what steps he is taking to support local authorities to make those centres more accessible.


Answered by
Rachel Maclean Portrait
Rachel Maclean
This question was answered on 5th July 2021

Local authorities are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. They are responsible for ensuring that their actions are within the law and are accountable to local people for their decisions and their performance. Local councillors are responsible for ensuring that local decisions about street infrastructure take account of the needs and opinions of local people.

The Department has issued guidance for local authorities on reallocating road space in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. This can be accessed at:

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

The guidance reiterates that the needs of disabled people must be taken into account and states that an Equalities Impact Assessment should be carried out for proposed changes.

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