HC Deb 11 July 1988 vol 137 cc8-9
8. Dr. Michael Clark

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidelines and advice he has given recently on wheel clamping and the circumstances in which it should be used; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Requests for wheel clamping areas may be made by local highway authorities to my right hon. Friend. We issued a guidance note on selection criteria in May 1987. Responsibility for operational matters rests with the police.

Dr. Clark

Does my hon. Friend agree that wheel clamping should be reserved primarily for deterring motorists from parking in no-parking areas, and that clamping motor cars parked in residential areas without permits or at parking meters after the clock has run out is an inappropriate use of clamps which should have low priority?

Mr. Bottomley

Most people will agree that what is important is that when a car should not be parked in a certain place an effective deterrent is needed—clamping is certainly that. The other matters are rather more operational and I shall make sure that they are considered in the appropriate places.

Mr. Campbell-Savours

May we have an inquiry into how a back-street garage in Brighton managed to secure the contract for removing vehicles from the streets of Brighton?

Mr. Bottomley

I do not have a clue.

Mr. Higgins

While, in general, wheel clamps seem to waste an enormous amount of police time and slow down traffic even more than would have happened if the vehicles were not clamped, will my hon. Friend consider putting massive wheel clamps on coaches on Westminster bridge which discharge their passengers into the centre of the road and are likely sooner or later to cause a serious accident?

Hon. Members

Hear, hear.

Mr. Bottomley

The House notes my right hon. Friend's persistence in this matter. It would be appropriate if the Department encouraged the relevant authorities to get together to try to solve the problem before there is a serious accident.

Mr. Tony Banks

Is the Minister aware that the low level of enforceability of parking restrictions in London is a matter of massive concern to hon. Members and Londoners generally? What does he think about the proposal that local authorities should take over responsibility for the traffic warden system? If we could decriminalise parking in London, the fines that could be levied by the local authority run traffic warden system could go direct to paying for the cost of the system, in which case we could perhaps get somewhere with enforcing parking restrictions in London.

Mr. Bottomley

The hon. Gentleman is good at encouraging us to suck eggs. The important part of this question and the answers to it is that the privatisation of wheel clamping and towing away has led to a higher degree of deterrence, which is to be welcomed. I know that the hon. Gentleman is against the privatisation or contracting out of anything——

Mr. Tony Banks

Why does the Minister not answer the question? He is so stupid and smug.

Mr. Speaker

Order.