HC Deb 24 July 1963 vol 681 cc1444-8
34. Sir Richard Glyn

asked the Minister of Transport what is the terminal date of the current four-year period at the end of which he will exercise control to ensure that all surplus revenue from parking meters is applied to the provision or maintenance of parking accommodation off the highway; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all local authorities concerned present their accounts in such a way that he is in a position to discharge his statutory duty in this regard.

Mr. Marples

The four-year period varies from one local authority to another. The first quadrennial period for the City of Westminster, which was the first local authority to install parking meters, ended on 31st March, 1963.

I am sure the local authorities are aware of their statutory duties, and if it should be necessary to carry forward any surplus from one four year period to another, will make the necessary application for my consent. I have in fact asked all local authorities concerned to let me have annually copies of their parking meter accounts.

Sir Richard Glyn

Is my right hon. Friend convinced that this complicated system will have the desired result of making sure that motorists get the off-street parking for which they have paid?

Mr. Marples

I think that it will, but if by any chance it proves to be too complicated as legislation has laid it down, one would have to consider altering it.

Mr. Strauss

Can the Minister assure the House that the money derived from the meters is being devoted to off-street parking arrangements as suggested by the Government and endorsed by the House? Is he satisfied that it is working effectively?

Mr. Marples

I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that it is working quite effectively. In Westminster they have spent more money on off-street parking than they have collected in meter rents.

36. Sir B. Janner

asked the Minister of Transport, in view of the general concern about the proposals of local authorities to raise their parking meter charges and the limited extent to which surplus revenue from these meters has been devoted to the provision of off-street car parking, if he will introduce legislation to enable him to control the operation of all parking meter schemes and to determine the amount of money to be devoted to construction of new car parks.

Mr. Marples

I do not agree with the premises on which the hon. Member's question is based. In any case, the present law gives me full control over the charges and other important features of parking meter schemes and requires that all surplus revenue from them must go to providing and operating off-street car parks.

Sir B. Janner

Is the Minister aware of the fact that people are complaining very bitterly about the moneys not being used in that way? If he is satisfied about the position, why are the parking meter charges to be raised? Does he propose to see to it that all the money which is received in future from the increased parking meter charges will be used for this kind of parking provision? Does he not think that it is serious that these charges are being increased in the way in which he is suggesting, driving motorists, who are entitled to some kind of return for the vast sums of money which they have paid, away completely from the use of their cars?

Mr. Marples

Since the meters were introduced into London in 1958, more than 4,000 additional public off-street car spaces have been made available in the central area by local authorities and private enterprise. These are not used to the full now. There are vacant spaces for motorists' use. It is wrong to say that there is not the accommodation there. It is there, but it is not being used, and the reason it is not being used is that it is cheaper to park all day on the street than to go off the street.

Sir B. Janner

Will the Minister publish the accounts or get the accounts published so that we can see what the facts are?

Mr. Marples

I do not mind doing that.

Mr. Shepherd

Is it not a fact that the amount of space available for off-street parking is very small and that the difference between the gross and the net receipts is only about 10 per cent. after all the expenses of the hoards of attendants, loans and maintenance have been paid?

Mr. Marples

Whatever the net proceeds are, especially in the case of Westminster, they have been applied to off-street parking, and more money has been provided by Westminster City Council for off-street parking. This was the point raised by the original Question.

38. Mr. John Hall

asked the Minister of Transport if he is satisfied with the extent to which off-street parking facilities are provided, or to be provided, out of revenue received from parking meters; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Marples

Net revenue from parking meters in London amounted to just under £400,000 up to March, 1963. By the same date local authorities concerned had spent many times this amount in providing off-street parking facilities. There are plans for the provision of more. The position outside London is similar.

In general, I regard progress as satisfactory so far.

Mr. Hall

Is my right hon. Friend aware that many people regard the spread of meters throughout London as pock-marking and hideously disfiguring London's streets and squares? Is he aware also that the net revenue derived from meters seems to be out of all proportion to the disfigurement and inconvenience caused? Does he think that this is the best way of solving London's parking problems? Should he not look at the whole problem again?

Mr. Marples

The primary object of parking meters here, as in the United States of America and elsewhere, is not so much the raising of revenue as the controlling of parking on the streets. That is the object of the exercise. The first priority on the road should be for moving traffic. If there is any space available for parking, it should be used by the short-term parker—the shopper and the person doing business there—and not by the long-term parker. If there is a space available, it should be used by eight people for one hour each a day rather than by one person for eight hours a day. That is the object of the parking meter.

Mr. Strauss

Although not disagreeing at all with the view just expressed by the Minister, may I ask him whether the calculation which he gave in his original Answer was not wholly misleading? Did he not compare the annual revenue derived from meters with the capital expenditure involved in constructing off-street parking? The two should not be compared. They have very little relationship one with the other.

Mr. Marples

I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that local authorities which have parking meters in their areas are not satisfied from the financial point of view. This imposes a great burden on them and on their ratepayers.

Mr. Wall

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the other day his hon. Friend told me that there were 24,000 off-street parking places in Central London? Does he not think that this number is grossly inadequate?

Mr. Marples

It is for the motorist to decide that. All I can say is that they are not all being used.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Is my right hon. Friend aware that much off-street parking is not fully used, particularly the giant underground car park at Hyde Park?

Mr. Marples

It is the same at Finsbury Square. It is the same at other places. All over London there are places which motorists could use if they were prepared to park off the streets. If they can park on the streets for less than they can off the streets, they will not park off the streets.