Sections 281 to 287: Parking
402.Sections 281 to 287 amend the RTRA 1984 and the Road Traffic Act 1991 in relation to parking.
403.Section 281 enables TfL and London borough councils (with the consent of TfL) to designate paying parking places on GLA roads. The ability of borough councils to designate parking places on their own roads is unaffected.
404.Section 282 amends section 55 of the RTRA 1984 so as to require TfL to operate a parking account of its income and expenditure in respect of parking places on the highway and to enable the Mayor to specify in his transport strategy purposes for which surpluses can be spent and enables London authorities to make contributions to each other and to form a joint committee for that purpose.
405.Section 283 amends section 73 of the Road Traffic Act 1991 so as to require TfL to join with the London borough councils in the appointment of a joint committee to appoint parking adjudicators. Section 284 substitutes for section 74 of the 1991 Act new sections 74 and 74A with regard to the fixing of additional parking charges, that is to say penalty charges, charges for removal, storage and disposal of vehicles, and charges for removing wheel clamps. TfL or the London borough councils must set the levels of additional parking charges on those roads for which they are the traffic authority. The charges may vary between different areas. The Secretary of State will have the final say on the levels of additional parking charges proposed by TfL or the London borough councils.
406.TfL and the London borough councils must publish their parking charges in a form determined by the Mayor. In setting these levels the London borough councils must act through the joint committee constituted under section 73. No TfL member of that committee may take part in any proceedings relating to functions under section 74 or 74A of the 1991 Act.
407.Section 285 provides that applications to the Secretary of State for an order designating a special parking area (“SPA”) can only be made by TfL to the extent that the area is to consist of GLA roads or trunk roads, and by a borough council to the extent that the area is to consist of other roads. (In SPAs offences involving the contravention of waiting restrictions indicated by yellow lines, and some other parking offences, become "decriminalised" and replaced by a system of penalty charges similar to that used for designated parking places. To date, SPAs have been designated in all London boroughs, with limited exclusions.)
408.Section 286 adds a new section 76A to the Road Traffic Act 1991 to provide that the Mayor can change the boundaries of SPAs within Greater London, with the consent of the traffic authority for any road affected and where the effect is to bring all or any part of a Royal Park within a special parking area with the consent of the Secretary of State. The Mayor cannot bring within a SPA any area designated in an order of the Secretary of State on grounds of national security. The Mayor will accordingly be able to decriminalise parking on almost all GLA roads without having to ask the Secretary of State to make an order under section 76 of the 1991 Act. Section 287 amends section 82 of the 1991 Act (interpretation).
