This House of Lords Library briefing provides background reading in advance of the second reading of the Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Bill in the House of Lords on Friday 24 February 2017.
Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (132 KB , PDF)
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.
Parking Places (Variation of Charges) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (132 KB , PDF)
Highlighting the human and economic costs of accidents, and rising rates of accidental deaths in the UK, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has called for the government to create a national accident prevention strategy. RoSPA argues that currently, responsibility for accident prevention is too fragmented. The government has not yet commented on this proposal.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill would make changes to the system for approving major infrastructure projects, planning committees and nature recovery. It would also make changes to electricity and transport infrastructure processes, development corporations, spatial development strategies, and compulsory purchase. The government intends the bill to help grow the economy by enabling important infrastructure and homes to be built more quickly. Some parts of the bill, particularly those related to nature recovery, have attracted criticism from opposition parties and external bodies.
The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is a pan-European satellite navigation system that augments global satellite systems, improving their accuracy and making them suitable for safety-critical applications such as flying aircraft or navigating ships through narrow channels. As a result of its departure from the European Union, the UK no longer participates in the EGNOS programme. Some stakeholders have called for the UK to reinstate the EGNOS system, particularly whilst a UK alternative is developed.
