The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee is the lead Committee for the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Bill and has issued a call for written evidence.

The Committee is seeking views from all interested parties on the general principles of the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Bill.  Jackie Baillie MSP has published a policy memorandum and explanatory notes to accompany the Bill.

The general approach of the Bill is to impose a duty on local authorities, in particular circumstances, to exercise its power to make a particular kind of order (which would make the space enforceable) under either section 45 (street parking places) or section 35 (off-street parking places) of the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984.  The Bill does not amend the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 itself in any way.

The main aims of the Bill will:

• Require local authorities to identify all existing advisory disabled street parking places, and, for those still needed, to promote orders.
• Require local authorities to remove any road markings or sign posts for those existing advisory disabled street parking places that are no longer required.
• Require local authorities, in relation to disabled off-street parking, to promote an order covering the disabled persons’ parking places in its own public car parks.
• Require local authorities to contact and seek to negotiate arrangements with owners of, or person having an interest in, private car parks including supermarkets and out of town retail centres.
• Prevent any further advisory disabled street parking places being created.
• Enable temporary advisory disabled street parking places to be created while an order is being promoted in relation to that parking place.

Other matters: Views are also welcome on the policy memorandum and financial memorandum accompanying the Bill:

• How helpful do you find these documents?
• Are the financial consequences of the Bill sufficiently clear?
• Are the effects of the Bill on issues such as equal opportunities accurately and clearly described?
• Do you have any comments on the consultation the Member carried out prior to the introduction of the Bill?

Background Notes

The Bill was introduced to the Parliament on 2 June 2008.  The Parliamentary Bureau has referred the Bill to the Local Government and Communities Committee as lead committee for Stage 1 scrutiny.  At Stage 1 a subject committee examines the general principles of a Bill and recommends to the Parliament whether the general principles should be agreed to.  As part of this process, a committee usually takes written and oral evidence from interested parties.

How to contact us
Evidence should be reasonably brief (as a guide, normally no more than 4 sides of A4).  It would be most helpful if responses could be submitted by email, preferably in Word format, to: lgc.committee@scottish.parliament.uk

Evidence should be submitted no later than 8 August 2008.

If you have no access to email facilities, responses can be submitted by letter to—
The Clerk to the Local Government and Communities Committee
Room T3.40
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

If you intend to submit written evidence please take time to read the Parliament’s policy on the treatment of written evidence by subject and mandatory committees (15KB pdf) .