The 10-minute grace period at the end of paid for or free parking became mandatory for all Civil Enforcement Authorities in England on 6 April 2015. The grace period only applies at the end of permitted paid-for or free parking at local authority owned or operated car parks. It does not apply at the start of a period of parking, nor in circumstances where the driver was not permitted to park (i.e. outside the hours of permitted operation of on-street parking). There are no plans to mandate councils to give 10 minutes of free parking when parking begins.
Statutory guidance makes clear that if an on-street parking meter or pay-and-display machine is out of order (and parking has not been suspended and clearly indicated as such to motorists), motorists should not be issued with a parking charge notice unless alternative means of payment were available to the driver and clearly indicated<\/p>
Some private parking operators currently offer 10-minute grace periods. However, the new Private Parking Code of Practice my department is currently reviewing will make it a requirement across the country to provide a fixed consideration period of at least 5 minutes to ensure that motorists have an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the parking terms and conditions and give a minimum 10-minute grace period after their tickets expire.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4679", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Neil O'Brien"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Harborough"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Neil O'Brien"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-06-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-06-30T16:46:04.723Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "211"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Levelling Up, Housing and Communities"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-06-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Parking: Fees and Charges"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will consider introducing a mandatory grace period for (a) drivers who leave a parking bay within 10 minutes without buying a ticket and (b) drivers who are unable to buy a parking ticket within 10 minutes as result of delays and failures in the relevant ticket delivery system.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4615", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lloyd Russell-Moyle"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Brighton, Kemptown"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lloyd Russell-Moyle"} ], "uin" : "25968"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }