Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages

The Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Bill is a private member’s bill, which has completed all of its stages in the House of Commons, and is due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 24 February 2017. Only three clauses long, the aim of the Bill is to allow local authorities to more easily lower parking charges in areas for which they are responsible. If a local authority wishes to raise charges, then the Bill would require that they consult interested parties. The Bill would apply to England only, and has the support of the Government 

Under current legislation, local authorities must use the same procedure regardless of whether they want to raise or lower parking charges at both off-street and on-street parking places in their area. This includes publishing notice of the variation in a newspaper before the changes come into force; specifying all changes and timing of those changes; with regard to off-street parking, displaying a notice in the parking place; and with regard to on-street parking displaying a similar notice in prominent positions about the road. The Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Bill would amend sections 35C and 46A of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to allow for a different procedure to be specified by regulation, the purpose of which would be to make it less onerous to lower charges, but require that a local authority must hold a consultation should they wish to raise them.