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I was keen to bring forward the marketing campaign because, although there was a lot of awareness at the time that the Government adopted Sandra White’s member’s bill into the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which was passed at the end of that year, time has passed since the ban was brought in on double parking, dropped kerb parking and pavement parking. That is why it is important to remind people that the Parliament passed that law in 2019, and that what is happening now is the delivery, the operation and the final elements of bringing it into force by providing the enforcement and the penalty notice process.

There has to be action on awareness, because of the passage of time. There is a duty and responsibility on us all to help in making sure that people are aware—because, I suspect, they might not be aware. Although they might be aware of pavement parking as an issue, they are not necessarily aware of the dropped kerb issue. That is a challenge because, as you said, people might not be sighted on dropped kerbs. Again, it is for local authorities and their enforcement officers to identify what is reasonable or unreasonable, and what a commonsense approach would be in such a situation.

I am happy to just move it.

I move,

That the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee recommends that the Parking Prohibitions (Enforcement and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 be approved.

That is an important point. Again, it is a decision to be made by local authorities, but local authorities should be informed by local communities. The continuous dialogue that is helping to inform the guidance on parking standards will come out at the same time as we commence the regulations, should they be agreed to when the committee and the Parliament vote.

On the responsibility of individuals, councillors will no doubt be approached by people who have individual circumstances. They can take that up with the local authority. Similarly, MSPs will no doubt be contacted. Local authorities increasingly have access panels of the type that the member spoke about, and the Government consults the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland to get its advice. That is proper and responsible community engagement. Any individual issue can be addressed with representation, but I cannot make local authorities do that; they have to do it themselves.

I thank the committee for its questions and contributions, and I hope that there is support for this important final part of the regulations.

The committee looked at the exemptions process in the regulations last year. That is the process to enable local authorities to identify such exemptions, and part of that is consultation that the authorities carry out. I do not know what has happened in each of the 32 local authorities, but that is the process for identifying streets where there might be issues. My understanding is that local authorities are able to advertise whether an area is eligible for pavement parking. Some authorities have done that work, and some are in the process of doing it. Again, though, they will need to take a commonsense view as to what is practical. At the same time, this is, as you have said, about how we make sure that our streets are accessible.

I will ask Elise McIntyre to come in on that.

I think that that is normal practice for these things.

I will bring in Fred O’Hara to give you some information, but I would have thought that the sensible thing would be for local authorities to identify and publicise that on their websites. However, they will also want to go through a process with their committees on how to enforce the measure. We know that that discussion has just started in Edinburgh, where the council thinks that it will be the first to put the measure in place. There might be a period of time before local authorities know that they are ready to enforce the penalties that we are providing them with the powers to enforce, should the committee and the Parliament agree to the instrument.

Engagement with key delivery companies has been continuous. It has been part of the process of drawing up the regulations. Marketing will be general, but communications can be done nationally, and I am keen that that takes place. However, I also expect local authorities, along with their local Chamber of Commerce, to actively engage with businesses on particular streets where they will want to enforce the measure. I reassure you that ensuring that drivers are aware is part of an on-going process.

In reflecting on the issues with parking, we have recognised that, although some deliveries take place in branded vans and white vans, so we know who they are, increasingly, they are done by people in their own vehicles. However, if someone is making deliveries for a business purpose, as long as they abide by the regulations that the member referred to, they will not be subject to a penalty notice.

They are in the process of doing that. Some will have done so and some will not, as yet, have done so, but they are in the process of doing that.

Perhaps Fred O’Hara can give the committee more information about that engagement.