Wheel-Clamping Policy: Effect (Hansard, 14 November 1989)

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, wheel-clamping has substantially reduced illegal parking in the parts of central London where it operates. That is its main objective. Income from fees to recover costs was £2.7 million in 1987–88 and £3.2 million in 1988–89.
1219 Studies by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory suggest that traffic speeds in central London would be slower in the absence of clamping.

§ Baroness Ewart-Biggs
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that useful information. Will he agree that many of us who drive around London have seen no kind of improvement in traffic flow as a result of wheel-clamping? In some cases it might even hamper the traffic flow. Is the Minister aware that very extensive plans are being made in many other European capitals to take on their traffic problems?
Does the Minister agree that when the Government make their plans the following practices will be very important: first, loading and unloading should be banned during peak hours because it undoubtedly creates many jams? Secondly, responsibility for traffic enforcement should be taken from the present hotchpotch of private companies and the police and given to the local highway authorities? Thirdly, will the Government also bear in mind the strong relationship between car use and public transport?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, wheel-clamping is a proven success in deterring illegal parking. It will continue to be a major part of the department's policy towards the effective enforcement of parking controls. Since wheel-clamping was privatised it has been much more efficient and effective.

The Earl of Selkirk
My Lords, will my noble friend impress upon both the police and local authorities the need to mark clearly any change in the parking rules and particularly the suspension of resident parking areas which sometimes occurs in a very obscure way?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I take note of my noble friend's remarks and I shall certainly pass them on.

§ Lord Stallard
My Lords, will the noble Viscount agree that there are very few people who will accept his interpretation of the benefit of wheel clamps and car towing? On the contrary, most of us consider those measures to be counter-productive in that clamped vehicles are left for days on the side of the road at the point of the original obstruction. The towing vehicles themselves are an obstruction for an hour or more while it is sorted out which vehicle should be taken away. Nobody I know will support the views expressed by the noble Viscount.

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I do not agree. A report by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory shows a substantial reduction in parking on yellow lines and less illegal parking in residents' bays and at meters. The number of cars illegally parked has decreased since wheel-clamping was introduced from 150,000 vehicle hours spent on yellow lines each day to 70,000 vehicle hours each day, which is half the original figure.

§ Lord Nugent of Guildford
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the main benefit of wheel-clamping is the protection of the single yellow line which is supposed to be used by trade vehicles for unloading? If there is no place for such vehicles to park at the kerb they double park and thus hold up the traffic. My noble friend is quite right in saying that there have been significant reductions in breaches of the yellow line regulations and in the amount of double-parking by trade vehicles.

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for confirming what I have just said.

§ Lord Jenkins of Hillhead
My Lords, the noble Viscount's figures were very impressive but somewhat mystifying. Can he tell us who goes round measuring exactly how many illegal hours are spent by vehicles on yellow lines?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I do not, but somebody does!

§ The Earl of Lauderdale
My Lords, can my noble friend explain how it came about that last Sunday night there was a traffic block in Park Lane which lasted one and three-quarter hours? Does he know the cause of it?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I do not believe that it was due to wheel-clamping.

§ Lord Underhill
My Lords, if the figures that the noble Viscount has given have been achieved, is it not because there is a deterrent effect? Does the Minister agree that there is still the problem to which my noble friend referred; namely, that where there is illegal parking on main highways and bus lanes and also dangerous parking, it is far better to remove a vehicle than to clamp it? Is the noble Viscount aware —I am certain he will be —that when the clamping procedure was introduced in the 1982 Act one of its main purposes was to catch the persistent offender? Is he further aware that in the area of the Gwent police authority new technology has been introduced called "intelligent ticketing terminals"? The system enables the police immediately to identify the persistent offender. Will the Minister say whether the system is being monitored and whether it is likely to be discussed with other chief officers?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Underhill, was kind enough to give me notice of his last question, we have been in touch with the Gwent police who state that they have no such system. However, the noble Lord may be referring to the computer-based system which is being developed by some local authorities in order to keep records of parking offences. It involves punching in car registrations to find out whether the car or the owner is guilty of a previous offence. As the noble Lord said, wheel-clamping is a deterrent. I believe that it is unlikely that anyone who has been wheel-clamped once —certainly twice —will become a persistent offender.

§ Lord Underhill
My Lords, in the light of what the noble Viscount has said I shall check my source of information. However, I have in front of me a leaflet describing the scheme in printed advertising form.

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, the point is that at the moment wheel-clamping takes place only in London.

§ Lord Gisborough
My Lords, in view of the inevitable increase in traffic, will my noble friend agree that the time will come when traffic entering cities will be limited and that there must be restrictions imposed in time, if not now? Can the Minister say how much study has been put into this matter? Does the Minister agree that such measures must be taken sooner rather than later?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I am not prepared to speculate on that matter. I can assure my noble friend that the problem is being studied in depth.

§ Lord John-Mackie
My Lords, the noble Viscount mentioned an improvement in the situation. I have been motoring into London for the past 30 years. I come down from the Angel to the Smithfield Market and the traffic has become increasingly worse every year. I drove in the other day and it was appalling to see the number of vehicles parked on yellow lines in that area.

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I cannot comment on individual travel.

§ Lord Peyton of Yeovil
My Lords, will my noble friend accept that there is a growing feeling that wheel-clamping is just another bit of tinkering with a growing problem and that, sooner or later, the Government and others must accept that principal roads are intended for movement and not for use as parking lots or as delivery areas during rush hours?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I am sure that my noble friend has a point, but at the moment I cannot go further than I have done already.

§ Lord Nugent of Guildford
My Lords, as I see my noble friend the Leader of the House on the Front Bench, is my noble friend aware that we have already taken 20 minutes of the time intended for all Questions? Does he not agree that it is time for us to move on?

§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Belstead)
My Lords, it is time for the next Question.