Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 48653 on Parking: Private Sector, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of local councils transferring their parking facilities to private parking companies on a) council finances and b) people parking there.

Local authorities are responsible for their own parking arrangements, and it is for them to determine what is best for their own area. As such, my department has not conducted an assessment of these potential impacts.

Authorities that outsource any area of parking enforcement to private companies should ensure that the contractor fulfils all the requirements set down for the authority itself.

We do, however, recognise the concerns many people have with private parking companies. That is why we are working on implementing the new Private Parking Code of Practice. This initiative aims to address these concerns and ensure fairer and more transparent practices within the private parking sector.