§ 15. Mr. Eyreasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will make a statement as regards his policy on restrictions on parking in cities.
§ Mr. William RodgersI am continuing to consider this in the course of the preparation of my White Paper.
§ Mr. EyreIs the Minister aware that a high proportion of the parking in city centres, in Birmingham and other major cities, is done by people engaged in industry, commerce, the professions and the public services, whose jobs require them to be mobile during the working day? Will he bear that very important factor very much in mind during his considerations, because restrictions would hamper these people in the services they provide as well as, more generally, damage the economy of the cities?
§ Mr. RodgersI shall bear it in mind. I take no dogmatic view. I do not think 1425 we can have indiscriminate parking in towns and cities, but I am not in favour of indiscriminate parking restraints. There is a need to find a balance, and here again local views are very important indeed.
If traffic is to circulate freely in towns and cities, certainly there must be parking restraints of a kind. Equally, however, a total ban on private cars in the areas concerned would cause problems and would have industrial consequences.
§ Mr. SpriggsWill my right hon. Friend take account of the motorists and lorry drivers who park part of their vehicles so as to block footpaths? In many instances people who have to use prams and other footpath vehicles cannot use the footpath and have to go into the roadway to get round a vehicle. What will my right hon. Friend do about that?
§ Mr. RodgersLike my hon. Friend, I am bothered about the extent to which existing regulations are quite often not effectively enforced. There are difficulties. We know that the police have problems about recruitment at present because of financial restraints. We have to recognise that the level of enforcement falls below the level that both my hon. Friend and I would like to believe could be achieved.