§ Mr. MacfarlaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with the City of Westminster council regarding parking arrangements for coaches in London SW1; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PortilloI met the chairman of Westminster City council's planning and development committee in December last year as part of my continuing effort to support the council with its coach parking responsibilities. Our discussions concentrated on how illegal on-street parking by tourist coaches might be discouraged and how legal parking arrangements might be improved.
These discussions have been taken forward by my officials. Westminster have met the Metropolitan police, who have written to the Bus and Coach Council explaining that in a bid to minimise illegal coach parking, especially in streets surrounding Buckingham palace, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, they will be carrying out an advice and enforcement campaign starting this month and continuing throughout the summer.
My officials also attend Westminster's coach working party, which discusses a range of coach parking issues across London; and the Department has commissioned a major comprehensive study of tourist coach traffic in London, which is due to report later this year.