Potholes, taxes and the National Parking Platform

The IPC's Will Hurley has been ploughing through the party manifestos

How many of you have had a chance (or inclination) to read through the Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem manifestos? Well, for those of you who don't have your hand up, here are my thoughts and key takeaways.

While polls indicate that the country is leaning towards a change of government, it is still important to keep an eye on the entire landscape.

Conservative

While the manifesto doesn't directly reference the private parking sector, the manifesto includes relevant points:

• Pavement Parking: Earmarked for councils in England. This could have a massive impact on the private parking sector. However, the current consultation's slow progress tempers expectations.
• National Parking Platform: While this is primarily aimed at local authority space, it does impact the private sector. The Conservative party have backed the NPP.
• Potholes: Now, this isn’t something I normally cover, however, it certainly is a talking point due to the current state of the roads. The Conservative party have pledged to invest £8.3bn to fill potholes. The RAC has highlighted that this spending is over 11 years, based on their calculations, it does not “scratch the surface” of the pothole problem.

Labour

Labour doesn’t touch on parking, public or private. They do however highlight that they are on the side of the motorist, and keen to work with industry. I am optimistic that the work the sector has done puts us in a great starting place with the Labour Party.

• EV chargers: With Labour keen to expand the infrastructure, this could be a great opportunity for the Private Parking sector to play a key role.
• Potholes: Labour has addressed tackling the current state of the roads. Labour has pledged to fix an additional one million potholes across England each year of the next parliament.

Liberal Democrats

There is a big emphasis on climate change, and the failings of the Conservatives to roll-out charging points and maintain our roads. While their manifesto doesn’t directly reference parking, the Lib Dems are clearly pushing to make a greener future more affordable and achievable. I see how our sector could play a pivotal role in the push for net zero.

• Electric vehicles: Creating more charging points and encouraging drivers to swap to an electric car. Requiring all charging points to be accessible with a bank card and cutting VAT on public charging to 5%.
• Potholes: Giving more of the budget to local councils to maintain and repair existing roads and cycleways, including repairing potholes.

I am very proud of the work that has been done to elevate standards across our sector, and the essential service that the private parking sector provides. I look forward to working with government to continue our work to create positive change.

Will Hurley is chief executive of the International Parking Community (IPC)
www.theipc.info