Frequently Asked Questions about parking policy across the UK, including council-controlled on-road parking, parking on private land, and parking for disabled people.

Frequently Asked Questions about parking policy across the UK, including council-controlled on-road parking, parking on private land, and parking for disabled people.

There will be a Westminster Hall debate on the condition of roads in rural areas on 17 March 2026. The debate will be opened by Stuart Anderson MP (Conservative, South Shropshire).

There will be a Westminster Hall debate on the condition of roads in rural areas on 17 March 2026. The debate will be opened by Stuart Anderson MP (Conservative, South Shropshire).

This paper explains what private or ‘unadopted’ roads are and the problems and issues associated with them. It also explains who is responsible for maintaining these roads and how highways authorities can ‘adopt’ such roads and make them public highways.

This paper explains what private or ‘unadopted’ roads are and the problems and issues associated with them. It also explains who is responsible for maintaining these roads and how highways authorities can ‘adopt’ such roads and make them public highways.

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Road Safety Strategy was published in January 2026.

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Road Safety Strategy was published in January 2026.

Clause 21 agreed to. Amendment to clause 22, discussed with new clause 102 (Community benefits from major energy infrastructure projects), negatived on division (5 votes to 12). Clauses 22 to 35 agreed to. Clause 36 under consideration when the Committee adjourned.

Clause 21 agreed to. Amendment to clause 22, discussed with new clause 102 (Community benefits from major energy infrastructure projects), negatived on division (5 votes to 12). Clauses 22 to 35 agreed to. Clause 36 under consideration when the Committee adjourned.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2024-2025 had its First Reading in the House of Commons on 11 March 2025. Second Reading is scheduled for 24 March 2025. The Bill, and its Explanatory Notes, can be found on the Parliamentary website.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill 2024-2025 had its First Reading in the House of Commons on 11 March 2025. Second Reading is scheduled for 24 March 2025. The Bill, and its Explanatory Notes, can be found on the Parliamentary website.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending the Highways Act 1980 to increase roadside trees planting.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending the Highways Act 1980 to increase roadside trees planting.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to s.142(8) of the Highways Act 1980, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to indemnify local authorities against claims for damages caused by planters and parklets placed in the carriageway by residents in agreement with the local authority as...

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to s.142(8) of the Highways Act 1980, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to indemnify local authorities against claims for damages caused by planters and parklets placed in the carriageway by residents in agreement with the local authority as...

Lord report stage second day. Amendment 47 agreed to on division (285 to 208). Amendment 48 disagreed to on division (240 to 254). Amendment 50 disagreed to on division (239 to 248). Amendment 54 agreed to on division (283 to 192). Amendment 56 agreed to on division (259 to 200). Amendment 63 agreed to on division (247 to 192). Amendments 65 to 70 and 73 to 75 agreed to. Bill, as amended, ordered to be printed (HL Bill 102).

Lord report stage second day. Amendment 47 agreed to on division (285 to 208). Amendment 48 disagreed to on division (240 to 254). Amendment 50 disagreed to on division (239 to 248). Amendment 54 agreed to on division (283 to 192). Amendment 56 agreed to on division (259 to 200)....

Moved by

Lord Paddick

46: Leave out Clause 10

Moved by

Lord Paddick

46: Leave out Clause 10

My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 46 in my name and to speak to Amendment 47, to which I have added my name. Amendment 46 would remove Clause 10 from the Bill; I am grateful for the support of the noble Baronesses, Lady Chakrabarti and Lady Meacher, and the...

My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 46 in my name and to speak to Amendment 47, to which I have added my name. Amendment 46 would remove Clause 10 from the Bill; I am grateful for the support of the noble Baronesses, Lady Chakrabarti and Lady Meacher, and the...

My Lords, this House is wonderful. Your Lordships have heard from a former police officer exactly what the police think of this and how they will handle, or possibly mishandle, it; we are shortly to hear from a lawyer who has experienced court cases about this sort of thing; and...

My Lords, this House is wonderful. Your Lordships have heard from a former police officer exactly what the police think of this and how they will handle, or possibly mishandle, it; we are shortly to hear from a lawyer who has experienced court cases about this sort of thing; and...

My Lords, I rise in support of my noble friend Lord Coaker and of my friend the distinguished former police officer and consistent advocate for rights and freedoms, the noble Lord, Lord Paddick. Stop and search is always a vexed question; even stop and search with reasonable suspicion is a...

My Lords, I rise in support of my noble friend Lord Coaker and of my friend the distinguished former police officer and consistent advocate for rights and freedoms, the noble Lord, Lord Paddick. Stop and search is always a vexed question; even stop and search with reasonable suspicion is a...

This being not Committee but Report, the simplest and speediest answer that I can give to the noble Lord’s question is that Clause 11 is about suspicionless stop and search. He has picked out a particular subsection in the scheme, which would have been interesting in Committee. But the crucial...

This being not Committee but Report, the simplest and speediest answer that I can give to the noble Lord’s question is that Clause 11 is about suspicionless stop and search. He has picked out a particular subsection in the scheme, which would have been interesting in Committee. But the crucial...

He is called the noble Lord, Lord Deben.

He is called the noble Lord, Lord Deben.

It is in Suffolk.

It is in Suffolk.

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 47 in my name, for which I am grateful for the support of the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, the

noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester. Just in case I forget, I say now that I...

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 47 in my name, for which I am grateful for the support of the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, the

noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester. Just in case I forget, I say now that I...

I thank my noble friend Lord Anderson for that important point.

My example is that around Parliament Square, we have a designated area. Your Lordships, passing through it, can be stopped. I think that the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, has often mentioned that sometimes you have no idea that you are...

I thank my noble friend Lord Anderson for that important point.

My example is that around Parliament Square, we have a designated area. Your Lordships, passing through it, can be stopped. I think that the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, has often mentioned that sometimes you have no idea that you are...

My Lords, the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, seeks to remove the suspicion-led stop and search measure from the Bill, while that tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, seeks to remove the suspicionless stop and search measure. I understand the strength of feeling expressed by all...

My Lords, the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, seeks to remove the suspicion-led stop and search measure from the Bill, while that tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, seeks to remove the suspicionless stop and search measure. I understand the strength of feeling expressed by all...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken from all sides of the House and of the debate, from former police officers to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, who was arrested at a protest.

The noble Lord, Lord Wolfson of Tredegar, made a great play on John Lewis. I...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken from all sides of the House and of the debate, from former police officers to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, who was arrested at a protest.

The noble Lord, Lord Wolfson of Tredegar, made a great play on John Lewis. I...

Moved by

Lord Coaker

47: Leave out Clause 11

Moved by

Lord Coaker

47: Leave out Clause 11

I beg to move.

I beg to move.

Moved by

Lord Sharpe of Epsom

48: Before Clause 15, insert the following new Clause—

“Imposing conditions on public processions: serious disruption

(1) Section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 (imposing conditions on public processions) is amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (2) insert—

“(2ZA) In considering for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) whether a...

Moved by

Lord Sharpe of Epsom

48: Before Clause 15, insert the following new Clause—

“Imposing conditions on public processions: serious disruption

(1) Section 12 of the Public Order Act 1986 (imposing conditions on public processions) is amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (2) insert—

“(2ZA) In considering for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) whether a...

My Lords, we now turn back to government Amendments 48 to 51, which relate to the definition of serious disruption within Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 and the reasonable excuse defence with regard to the offences of wilful obstruction of the highway and public nuisance....

My Lords, we now turn back to government Amendments 48 to 51, which relate to the definition of serious disruption within Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 and the reasonable excuse defence with regard to the offences of wilful obstruction of the highway and public nuisance....

Moved by

Lord Sharpe of Epsom

50: After Clause 16, insert the following new Clause—

“Wilful obstruction of highway

In section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 (penalty for wilful obstruction), after subsection (1) insert—

“(1ZA) Subsection (1ZB) applies where—

(a) a person wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway, and

(b) the obstruction causes or...

Moved by

Lord Sharpe of Epsom

50: After Clause 16, insert the following new Clause—

“Wilful obstruction of highway

In section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 (penalty for wilful obstruction), after subsection (1) insert—

“(1ZA) Subsection (1ZB) applies where—

(a) a person wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway, and

(b) the obstruction causes or...

I beg to move.

I beg to move.

Moved by

Baroness Chakrabarti

54: After Clause 18, insert the following new Clause—

“Protection for journalists and others monitoring protests

A constable may not exercise any police power for the principal purpose of preventing a person from observing or otherwise reporting on a protest or the exercise of police powers in relation to—

(a) a...

Moved by

Baroness Chakrabarti

54: After Clause 18, insert the following new Clause—

“Protection for journalists and others monitoring protests

A constable may not exercise any police power for the principal purpose of preventing a person from observing or otherwise reporting on a protest or the exercise of police powers in relation to—

(a) a...

My Lords, we now come to the totally uncontroversial matter of protecting journalists from abuse of police power. This is an amendment in my name and also those of the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead. We...

My Lords, we now come to the totally uncontroversial matter of protecting journalists from abuse of police power. This is an amendment in my name and also those of the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead. We...

My Lords, I disagree very strongly with the noble Lord, because I think he is wrong. Once you give the police the idea that it is okay to arrest a journalist, why would we expect them to understand—you cannot deny that the police quite often misuse the law because they...

My Lords, I disagree very strongly with the noble Lord, because I think he is wrong. Once you give the police the idea that it is okay to arrest a journalist, why would we expect them to understand—you cannot deny that the police quite often misuse the law because they...

I speak as the mother of a journalist, so I have a vested interest here, but journalists do not go along to protests to join them but to watch and report on them. The Hertfordshire police and crime commissioner, David Lloyd, with whom I had the displeasure of sharing a...

I speak as the mother of a journalist, so I have a vested interest here, but journalists do not go along to protests to join them but to watch and report on them. The Hertfordshire police and crime commissioner, David Lloyd, with whom I had the displeasure of sharing a...

They have cards.

They have cards.

I wonder if I could help the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, because he has not, with respect, read the amendment—or at least not very carefully. To be clear, there would be nothing to prevent the arrest of a journalist, filmmaker, legal observer or anybody else if the officer suspected the...

I wonder if I could help the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, because he has not, with respect, read the amendment—or at least not very carefully. To be clear, there would be nothing to prevent the arrest of a journalist, filmmaker, legal observer or anybody else if the officer suspected the...

I would like to follow what my noble friend just said, or at least the beginning of his remarks following the speech by the noble

Baroness, Lady Boycott. If the Chinese Communist Party, through its quisling administration in Hong Kong, was introducing legislation like this, we would denounce it. The...

I would like to follow what my noble friend just said, or at least the beginning of his remarks following the speech by the noble

Baroness, Lady Boycott. If the Chinese Communist Party, through its quisling administration in Hong Kong, was introducing legislation like this, we would denounce it. The...

My Lords, there cannot be any legitimate objection to journalists, legal observers, academics or even members of the public who want to observe and report on protests or on the police’s use of their powers related to protests. We have seen in incident after incident how video footage of police...

My Lords, there cannot be any legitimate objection to journalists, legal observers, academics or even members of the public who want to observe and report on protests or on the police’s use of their powers related to protests. We have seen in incident after incident how video footage of police...

My Lords, there is something to be said for semaphore in the wider sense. That is, one of the problems that I think many noble Lords have had with the Bill is that it is sending a signal, as the noble Lord, Lord Patten, just suggested, against freedom of expression....

My Lords, there is something to be said for semaphore in the wider sense. That is, one of the problems that I think many noble Lords have had with the Bill is that it is sending a signal, as the noble Lord, Lord Patten, just suggested, against freedom of expression....

My Lords, we support the amendment moved by my noble friend Lady Chakrabarti and if she divides the House, we will support her in the Division Lobbies. As the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, said, a free press is the hallmark of a democratic society; we should remind ourselves of that....

My Lords, we support the amendment moved by my noble friend Lady Chakrabarti and if she divides the House, we will support her in the Division Lobbies. As the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, said, a free press is the hallmark of a democratic society; we should remind ourselves of that....

My Lords, I apologise for my slightly tardy arrival.

Amendment 54, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Chakrabarti and Lady Boycott, and the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, seeks to establish a specific safeguard for journalists and bystanders during protests. It follows the wrongful arrest and detention of the LBC journalist Charlotte...

My Lords, I apologise for my slightly tardy arrival.

Amendment 54, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Chakrabarti and Lady Boycott, and the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, seeks to establish a specific safeguard for journalists and bystanders during protests. It follows the wrongful arrest and detention of the LBC journalist Charlotte...

My noble and learned friend makes a very fair point, but the College of Policing and the National Union of Journalists awareness training is a little more recent than the 40 year-old PACE codes.

The College of Policing’s initial learning curriculum includes a package of content on effectively dealing with the...

My noble and learned friend makes a very fair point, but the College of Policing and the National Union of Journalists awareness training is a little more recent than the 40 year-old PACE codes.

The College of Policing’s initial learning curriculum includes a package of content on effectively dealing with the...

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this short but vital debate. Once more to respond to the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, who I am not sure has read the amendment—

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this short but vital debate. Once more to respond to the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, who I am not sure has read the amendment—

This amendment is not about preventing the arrest of anybody, journalist or otherwise, who is reasonably suspected of committing a criminal offence, including offences in this Bill. There is no definitional problem, because what is defined is the purpose of the arrest, not the identity of the person. This is...

This amendment is not about preventing the arrest of anybody, journalist or otherwise, who is reasonably suspected of committing a criminal offence, including offences in this Bill. There is no definitional problem, because what is defined is the purpose of the arrest, not the identity of the person. This is...

Moved by

Lord Anderson of Ipswich

56: Clause 19, page 22, line 20, leave out sub-paragraphs (iii) to (v)

Member's explanatory statement

This amendment would limit the trigger events for an SDPO to the commission of a protest-related offence and the breach of a protest-related injunction.

Moved by

Lord Anderson of Ipswich

56: Clause 19, page 22, line 20, leave out sub-paragraphs (iii) to (v)

Member's explanatory statement

This amendment would limit the trigger events for an SDPO to the commission of a protest-related offence and the breach of a protest-related injunction.

My Lords, I rise to propose a number of amendments to Part 2 of the Bill, which provides for serious disruption prevention orders, or SDPOs. These are civil orders, breach of which is punishable by imprisonment. Imposed by magistrates at the request of the police, their intended effect is to...

My Lords, I rise to propose a number of amendments to Part 2 of the Bill, which provides for serious disruption prevention orders, or SDPOs. These are civil orders, breach of which is punishable by imprisonment. Imposed by magistrates at the request of the police, their intended effect is to...

My Lords, as we have heard, most of the amendments in this group seek to restrict the proposed provisions in serious disruption prevention orders so that they are more in line with terrorism prevention and investigation measures. TPIMs are

primarily designed for instances where the case against someone who is...

My Lords, as we have heard, most of the amendments in this group seek to restrict the proposed provisions in serious disruption prevention orders so that they are more in line with terrorism prevention and investigation measures. TPIMs are

primarily designed for instances where the case against someone who is...

My Lords, to be clear at the outset, we will support Amendment 56 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Anderson, and I will not divide the House on Amendment 59. I shall speak to Amendment 63, which is tabled in my name and has cross-party and Cross-Bench support.

I...

My Lords, to be clear at the outset, we will support Amendment 56 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Anderson, and I will not divide the House on Amendment 59. I shall speak to Amendment 63, which is tabled in my name and has cross-party and Cross-Bench support.

I...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this shortish debate. This group contains notices to oppose, so I will start with those amendments which take issue with serious disruption prevention orders as a whole. The feeling expressed by noble Lords when speaking to these amendments is...

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this shortish debate. This group contains notices to oppose, so I will start with those amendments which take issue with serious disruption prevention orders as a whole. The feeling expressed by noble Lords when speaking to these amendments is...

I will need to clarify that but, given the other things that I have said, it would imply—I stress “imply”—that the person needed to be there, but I will come back on that point.

I also stress that those who make their voices heard without committing offences or causing serious disruption...

I will need to clarify that but, given the other things that I have said, it would imply—I stress “imply”—that the person needed to be there, but I will come back on that point.

I also stress that those who make their voices heard without committing offences or causing serious disruption...

The Minister will recall that I described my Amendments 57 and 61 as clarificatory. It seemed to me that the Government must surely have not intended that a second or subsequent SDPO made in respect of the same person could be founded on trigger events that had already been taken...

The Minister will recall that I described my Amendments 57 and 61 as clarificatory. It seemed to me that the Government must surely have not intended that a second or subsequent SDPO made in respect of the same person could be founded on trigger events that had already been taken...

I can clarify that that is the Government’s understanding.

I can clarify that that is the Government’s understanding.