Transport Insights

If you detected some reluctance from successive governments to tackle drivers who park on footways, the latest written parliamentary answers on the subject show that ministers are in no hurry to give councils the powers they promised them in January.

Transport minister Lilian Greenwood was asked by fellow Labour MP Peter Dowd what the government’s proposed timeline is. She replied:

On 8 January 2026, I announced the publication of the government’s formal response to the 2020 public consultation ‘Pavement parking: options for change’ which sets out what the government plans to do to tackle pavement parking. In the first instance we plan to give local authorities powers before the end of this year to issue Penalty Charge Notices for vehicles parked in a way that unnecessarily obstructs the pavement. The Department will engage with local authorities on the detail of these plans.

As I reported at the time, the government said it would “create powers to enable local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking in their areas” and in the meantime “enable local authorities to enforce against ‘unnecessary obstruction’ of the pavement”.

At that time, Commons Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury said:

The Transport Committee will be watching closely to ensure that legislation is enacted without further delays.

But, although ministers originally said the powers for councils to prohibit pavement parking in their areas would be created “at the next legislative opportunity” and “in parallel” with secondary legislation to allow enforcement against unnecessary obstruction of the pavement, the new area-wide power is clearly not happening any time soon.

In relation to the pledge to allow enforcement against unnecessary obstruction of the pavement this year, Greenwood told another Labour MP, Anneliese Dodds:

My officials have begun work on secondary legislation and guidance for this option, and associated stakeholder engagement.

Oh good, more consultation.