Glasgow drivers who leave cars idling should face tougher fines, says councillor

Drivers who leave their cars idling in Glasgow need stricter penalties to deter them, a councillor has warned.

Currently motorists may be issued with a £20 fine if engines are not switched off when asked but it is understood not to be widely enforced.

Parking wardens don’t currently have the power to issue tickets to idling vehicles and it is left to a small number of council staff according to councillor Blair Anderson.

Scottish Greens councillor Anderson said: “The level of enforcement is minuscule.”

Calling for a wider crackdown on idling, he said it would be preferable “if parking wardens could walk down the street and issue tickets.”

Councillor Anderson is now calling on the Scottish Government to grant more powers to councils to deal with the problem.

Speaking at last week’s net zero and climate progress monitoring city policy committee, he asked if there had been “any update in discussions being had between officers and the Scottish Government around making changes needed on vehicle idling enforcement. “

A council official said the council had committed to speak to the Scottish Government about the enforcement of vehicle idling as part of its 2024 Air Quality Action Plan.

The plan said it will “continue to undertake vehicle idling awareness campaigns and enforcement, particularly around sensitive locations, and explore options for improving effectiveness of enforcement.”

Outlining another development, the officer added: “Environmental Standards” Scotland have written to Glasgow City Council and all other councils asking for an evidence base of our vehicle idling policies – how we go around enforcement, how we go around education and to respond to them as part of the beginning of a fact finding process they are undertaking.”

He continued: “We will respond to them and include facts from public health colleagues responsible for the enforcement aspect of that.”