00:00For many drivers, parking is meant to be the easiest part of a journey, but for a growing
00:06number of people it is actually one of the most stressful. New research suggests around
00:11a third of motorists say they feel anxious, worried or even scared when it comes to parking,
00:17with many admitting they regularly drive past spaces because they simply look too tight
00:22or too difficult to get into. The study found bay parking is now ranked as the hardest manoeuvre
00:28for drivers, with nearly two-thirds saying modern parking spaces are not wide enough
00:33for today's cars. It's a problem that may not be surprising to many motorists because
00:38standard parking bay sizes in the UK were last formally reviewed about 50 years ago, back
00:43in 1976. Since then, vehicles have gradually become bigger, particularly with the rise of
00:50larger family cars and SUVs on Britain's roads. That has left some drivers feeling like spaces
00:55designed for another era no longer match the cars people are actually driving today.
01:00The study also tried to identify where drivers believe parking is the biggest challenge across
01:06the country. Southampton came out as the UK's worst city for parking, followed by Oxford and
01:12Liverpool. Further down the list were Norwich, Belfast and Leicester, while cities like Cambridge,
01:18London and Manchester also feature in the top ten. At the other end of the scale, Aberdeen was ranked
01:23the easiest place in the UK to park. But tight spaces are only part of the story when it comes
01:29to parking frustrations. For many motorists, the cost of parking is just as big an issue.
01:35We are now hearing worrying stories of small businesses losing nearly half of their footfall
01:40due to extortionate new parking charges being introduced by leaders, as well as residents being
01:45forced to pay to park outside their own homes. I certainly won't stay silent on this issue. While
01:52hard-working people pay the price, these measures will place an unfair financial burden on residents
01:59and workers, that new charges will adversely affect small, local, independent businesses.
02:05Charges vary widely depending on where you are in the country, but in some city centres,
02:11particularly in parts of London, leaving a car for 24 hours can cost up to around ÂŁ60.
02:17Rising prices have become a major talking point for drivers, businesses and local authorities
02:23alike. The government says it is working on reforms to improve standards in the sector.
02:29Our new road safety strategy, the first for 10 years, will save lives and end years of
02:34complacency. Our targets are ambitious, reducing those killed or seriously injured on our roads by
02:4065% by 2035 and by 70% for children under 16. That means stricter penalties for dangerous drivers,
02:49it means clamping down on illegal number plates and those driving without insurance, and it means new
02:54measures to support those most at risk, such as younger and older drivers. Today, we're also
02:59outlining plans to restrict pavement parking, which will make our roads safer and more accessible to
03:06everyone. Mr Speaker, every life lost on our roads is not only tragic, but also preventable,
03:12and I'm proud the steps we're taking will mean more people in more places can travel more safely.
03:19At the same time, the business of parking itself is also facing challenges. One of the UK's biggest
03:25operators, National Car Parks, better known as NCP, has fallen into administration after struggling
03:31financially in the years since the pandemic. The company operates around 340 car parks across the UK,
03:39including in city centres, hospitals, airports and train stations, and employs hundreds of staff.
03:45The company says its finances have been hit by long-term changes in commuting patterns,
03:51with fewer people travelling into city centres every day compared with before Covid. Combined with
03:57rising costs and long-term lease commitments, that has made it harder to keep some sites profitable.
04:02And so, whether it is tight bays, rising costs, enforcement or changes to car parks themselves,
04:09parking continues to be one of the biggest everyday frustrations for drivers across the UK.
Comments