Multi-storey Car Parks (Safety)

So how much of a problem is there—how general is it? The answer is not entirely clear. I tabled a written question, and was told that the Government do not collect figures to indicate how many people die each year in the way that Gabriel did. In a written answer on 5 September 2022, the Government confirmed that they are

“aware of some fatalities”,

but did not state how many or give me a number. However, it seems to be a more frequent occurrence than one might hope or expect. A simple search of newspaper reports, while hardly comprehensive, none the less indicates that there is a real problem. It shows that there were at least 17 deaths by falling from multi-storey car parks in England over a 12-month period—in 2022. There may well be more deaths that have gone unreported in the media, and there are also likely to be instances of very serious injury caused by people falling or jumping from those easily accessible, high and dangerous places.

If Mr Santer’s experience is anything to go by, owners and operators of multi-storey car parks are not exactly open to the idea of increasing safety measures above the minimum requirements set out in approved document K. Gabriel fell from a Q-Park roof. Q-Park is the third largest car park operator in Europe, with over 3,500 car parks under its control, yet when Mr Santer asked that company for all the information it held about his son by way of a freedom of information request, he was told that such requests need only be met in respect of “living persons”—what a shockingly insensitive response in the circumstances. When my office got involved, Mr Santer did receive some basic information thereafter, but it did not take long for Q-Park and its associated companies to shut up shop, demanding that Mr Santer communicate with them only via their lawyers.

It has become clear that Q-Park is not willing to take any voluntary steps to ensure that barriers are at a height that would prevent falling and jumping from its roofs, nor does it seem inclined to do anything much to improve safety unless it is made to by a change in the law. Indeed, there was a death by falling from the rooftop of a Q-Park in Sheffield in May 2012, which resulted in a regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths being sent by the Sheffield coroner to Q-Park Ltd and Sheffield City Council’s planning department in May 2014. That report set out concerns about the low height of the barriers and the ease of using the crash barrier by the perimeter wall as a step up to the top of the perimeter wall. Despite Sheffield City Council offering to facilitate improvements, and nine years after that prevention of future deaths report was sent by the Sheffield coroner to the company, Q-Park is still refusing to make any of the changes mentioned in that report when pressed by Mr Santer, and that is not encouraging. Gabriel died six years after the report was sent to Q-Park, which had done nothing to deal with the issues it highlighted. That shows that Q-Park will only do the absolute minimum to comply with guidance on safety.

It is therefore up to us in this place to require that improvements be made to the safety of multi-storey car parks. It seems clear that, if Q-Park is to take those safety concerns seriously and finally increase the height of its barriers, the legal minimum height must be increased, and a requirement to retrofit existing car parks must be included in the law. In addition, having car parks staffed can only increase safety levels. If Mr Santer is to achieve his goal of ensuring that Gabriel did not die in vain and that some good can come out of this terrible tragedy, the law must be changed. It is for us to do so.

In a written answer from June 2020, the Government confirmed that they have no current plans to make any such changes. It is in those circumstances that I seek leave to bring forward legislation to increase the safety of guarding at multi-storey car parks, as I have outlined. Should I receive permission to introduce such a Bill, and should that Bill receive Royal Assent, I think it would be appropriate to refer to it as Gabe’s law. He was a fine young lad with so much promise, who died too soon and so needlessly.

That Maria Eagle, Dame Angela Eagle, Sir George Howarth, Ian Byrne, Kim Johnson, Peter Dowd, Mick Whitley, Tony Lloyd, Barbara Keeley, Sir Mark Hendrick, Mike Amesbury and Ashley Dalton present the Bill.

Maria Eagle accordingly presented the Bill.