For too long, the health of our communities and environment has been put unnecessarily at risk by engine idling, pushing up levels of toxic air pollution. Children, older people, and those with pre-existing health conditions such as asthma are often the hardest hit.
While this is an easily preventable harm, and already prohibited under Scots law, a lack of enforcement has allowed drivers to pollute with impunity.
It is clear that the Scottish Government’s guidance to issue fixed penalty notices (FPNs) only as a ‘last resort’ has failed to deter drivers from idling. Data obtained by ERCS and Asthma + Lung UK has exposed the vast discrepancy between the number of public complaints reported to local authorities and the number of FPNs issued.
Now, following a complaint submitted by ERCS, the environmental watchdog Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) has published the results of its own investigation and backed our calls for stronger enforcement of Scotland’s engine idling ban.
After growing pressure, in March the Scottish Government published updated guidance to local authorities on engine idling. While this new statutory guidance removes references to using FPNs only as a ‘last resort’ and broadens the scope of who is authorised to enforce the ban, it continues to refer to FPNs as discretionary and remains weak on transparency, with no mandatory requirements for councils to disclose a record of idling enforcement activity.
While welcoming the updated guidance as providing greater clarity for local authorities, ESS’s Improvement Report concludes that Scotland’s existing enforcement regime is not fit for purpose and fails to act as a deterrent. Their conclusions echo the arguments set out in ERCS’s briefing and in our joint letter to the Scottish Government last year, signed by over thirty environmental organisations, community groups, councillors, and public health experts.
Significantly, ESS agrees with our recommendation to review and increase the £20 fine, which is well below the rate for equivalent offences such as pavement parking,[i] and has not increased with inflation since it was introduced more than twenty years ago. The Improvement Report requires Scottish Ministers to submit an improvement plan to parliament within six months setting out what measure it will take to address this, and to improve the overall efficacy of Scotland’s engine idling ban.
ESS will also issue a one-off request to all local authorities requiring them to provide annual data on engine idling offences and associated enforcement activity. While welcome, this should be a routine mandatory reporting requirement to ensure transparency and accountability. It was only through Freedom of Information requests that ERCS obtained data exposing the widespread lack of enforcement by local authorities.
Despite public outrage at the health and environmental impacts of engine idling, this behaviour continues to be normalised and committed without fear of sanction – in marked contrast to other driving offences.
To this end, ERCS and partners will be writing to the Scottish Government urging them to triple fines from £20 to £80, issue fines as the first point of enforcing the ban and introduce transparent reporting requirements.
It is time to give local authorities the proper tools to end avoidable pollution and protect our health and the environment.
[i] In Scotland, the fine for pavement parking is £100 (£50 if paid within 14 days)
