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The UK Government has unveiled a series of proposals for consultation to improve parking rules in a bid to support shops and help with the cost of living.

The development comes after several independent experts raised concerns about the harm aggressive parking policies cause to shops.

The UK Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Transport will in due course publish details of several parking reforms, including stopping the use of CCTV for on-street parking enforcement; and new open data on parking to allow the public to ‘go compare’.

There will also be proposals for consultation on updating parking enforcement guidance to support local shops, tackling wrongly-issued fines, stopping unacceptable parking fine collection practices, and reviewing unnecessary yellow lines and the scope for residents’ reviews.

Other parking reforms to be introduced include reviewing the grace period for parking offences, cutting down anti-social driving and encouraging social responsibility, spreading best practice on supporting town centres and tackling illegal parking, and analysis of the impact of different transport policies on town centre vitality.

Communities and Local Government Secretary of State Eric Pickles said that excessive parking charges and unfair parking fines increase the cost of living, and undermine local high streets and shopping parades.

"We want to rein over-zealous parking enforcement, so it focuses on supporting high streets and motorists, not raising money," Pickles said.

An independent review by Mary Portas on high street policy for the government identified that town centre car parking is ‘significantly expensive’ and inconvenient.

"The development comes after several independent experts raised concerns about the harm aggressive parking policies cause to shops."

The local authority revenue from parking in England increased from £608m in 1997 to £1.3bn by 2010, with around nine million parking fines currently issued every year by local authorities in the country.

There has also been a significant rise in the use of CCTV for on-street parking enforcement following the 2004 legislation.

As part of its efforts to ease parking burden on citizens, the government eliminated a Whitehall planning policy that encouraged councils to increase car parking charges, and also scrapped Whitehall restrictions that limited the provision of off-street parking spaces.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "By making sensible changes, such as providing more parking spaces for local shoppers, we can help ease traffic flow whilst supporting our vibrant high streets."

Image: UK will in due course publish details of several parking reforms. Photo: courtesy of Department for Transport.