Presiding Officer casts doubt on competence of member's parking bill

A member's bill to ban parking on pavements has been introduced in the Scottish Parliament – but the Presiding Officer believes it to be beyond the Parliament's legislative competence.

SNP MSP Sandra White's Footway Parking and Double Parking (Scotland) Bill would make it an offence to park on footways or drop kerbs, and would also outlaw double parking.

The bill has the support of charities such as Guide Dogs Scotland and disabled persons' groups who object to the blocking of pavements by parked vehicles, but in her statutory statement on the competence of the bill, the Presiding Officer, Tricia Marwick, says she believes the bill relates to a matter reserved to Westminster. 

"The reason for this view is that I consider that the bill makes provision which relates to a reserved matter, namely the subject matter of Part 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (insofar as not excepted)", she states.

Ms White states her view that the bill is within the Parliament's competence, without further explanation.

Similar proposals have been made at Holyrood twice before. A bill by Liberal Democrat Ross Finnie ran out of time, and the SNP's Joe Fitzpatrick was prevented from promoting a member's bill when he became a minister.

Click here to view the bill and related documents.