UK government confirms transfer of pavement parking powers to Holyrood

Earlier this month the Local Government and Regeneration Committee hailed the legislation, introduced by Sandra White MSP.

In its report, the committee noted that, while the bill could be the basis for strengthening the law, there were still questions around how this would work in practice.

Committee convener, Kevin Stewart MSP said: “For those affected by obstructive parking on pavements, it can be a serious problem. We were overwhelmed by the number of comments we received from members of the public on this issue. We heard from wheelchair users, people with visual impairments and young families with prams about the very real impact this can have on their day to day lives.

“The bill before us is a positive step in addressing this issue. However, there is much more detail needed in order to address how this would work in practice. We believe more thought needs to be given to ensure the bill would be enforced consistently across Scotland. We also believe further consideration needs to be given to how much the bill would cost to implement and enforce.

“Clearly pavement parking is not always obstructive and so we welcome the flexibility the bill provides for local authorities to exempt some areas. We would hope local authorities would use a common sense approach to identifying these exempt areas.”

Scotland Office minister Andrew Dunlop said: “I am very pleased that we are able to act on giving Holyrood the powers to tackle inconsiderate parking.

“We know that inconsiderate parking makes life difficult for pedestrians and I am grateful to Living Streets Scotland, Guide Dogs Scotland and other groups who have raised this important issue.

“There has long been a demand for the Scottish Parliament to be able to tackle this issue and I am pleased that we have been able to do so. This is a good example of the UK government working with the Scottish government.”