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The Transport Committee published its Thirteenth Report of Session 2017–19, Pavement parking on 9 September 2019. The Government’s responded to this report on 3 March 2020.

The IHE welcomes the TRO reforms (Recommendations 3 & 4) for the benefit of its members.  The recommendations taken from the report are as follows:

Recommendation 3 – We recommend that the Government bring forward proposals to reform the TRO process – to make it cheaper and easier for local authorities to use – and bring forward any required secondary legislation, if necessary, by spring 2020. (Paragraph 44)

The Government accepts the principle of this recommendation. Future of Transport Minister George Freeman announced on 26th August that the Department was launching a review of legislation associated with Traffic Regulation Orders. The first stage of this review involved the Department developing proposals for legislative change in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders. The legislative Alpha review drew on the findings of the TRO Discovery report that, among other recommendations, encouraged the Department to determine whether the legislation could be simplified. It made recommendations for reform on which there will be further consultation in 2020. The scope of legislative change and whether change will require primary and/or secondary legislation will require careful consideration in light of the consultation findings. Therefore, the recommendation that any required secondary legislation should be brought forward by spring 2020 is not achievable.

Recommendation 4 – We recommend that the Government abolish the requirement to advertise TROs in a local newspaper. It should replace this with a requirement for the local authority to maximise the reach of its advertising to the largest number of people by whatever media would best achieve this. The Government should commit to achieving this by spring 2020: it should be delivered alongside the wider reforms to TROs recommended above. (Paragraph 45)

The Government accepts that the right of people affected by a TRO to be informed of and consulted on proposals is an important part of the process. The Government also acknowledges that there have been significant changes in the way that citizens access information since the introduction of the relevant regulations in 1996. The Department will therefore be considering as part of the TRO legislative review referred to in the response to Recommendation 3 how best to inform people affected by TROs. As we have explained above the Government is unable to commit to delivery of legislation by a specific date. The necessity and scope of any legislative change is unclear and will be subject to consultation.

To view the full report visit: http://theihe.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2020-03-11-Pavement-Parking-response.pdf

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