POPLA APPEAL - TPS - Jubilee Retail Park, Weymouth

Precision

Agreed; shots fired :cool:




Dear AOS Investigations Team,

I am very concerned with the wording of your response, specifically "If we receive evidence of a possible breach of a point raised in the BPA AOS Code of Practice".

This isn't a question of 'if you receive evidence', as I have already supplied you with this evidence.

To be specific, I will quote the previously supplied POPLA adjudication: "..the Operator does not have the authority from the landowner to issue parking charge notices"

There is no ambiguity in that statement; BPA's recognised independent arbiter has explicitly stated that Total Parking Solutions Ltd (TPS) does not have the authority from the landowner to issue parking charge notices. This is a direct violation of BPA AOS Code of Practice section 7.

Your response appears to focus on TPS and their violation of BPA AOS Code of Practice section 7, however it does not mention addressing the shocking fact that this company presented fabricated evidence to the arbitrator to attempt to gain a favourable verdict, and to attempt to cover up said breach of section 7.

Again, I will quote the previously supplied POPLA adjudication: "The Operator has provided a witness statement, however, this witness statement is made and signed by their own employee and therefore not valid."

The message in this damning statement is very clear, Total Parking Solutions Ltd presented a fake witness statement that was signed by their own staff, therefore fabricating evidence. In an attempt to mislead both myself, and the independent arbiter.

Browsing the BPA code of practice I cannot see any section that directly addresses the situation where the Operator fabricates evidence (please correct me if I am wrong), meaning that, surprisingly, it is not a direct breach of the BPA Code of Practice, however I still expect an appropriate sanction to be applied to TPS for such gross misconduct. I don't need to remind you that BPA is under the spotlight what with recent high profile evidence fabrication allegations against AOC members, therefore, myself, and other parties, will be quite eager to hear the specifics about how you handle this matter.

In this email, I have attached the evidence pack that was supplied by TPS during the independent appeals process, in section B you will find the mentioned witness statement.

I have also attached a second document, this is my rebuttal to said evidence pack that I produced and presented to POPLA for the appeal. Contained inside is evidence of additional breaches of the BPA Code of Practice by Total Parking Solutions Ltd.

I would recommend reading the whole document as it is quite damning, but the sections of particular interest to the AOC Investigation team are:

Section 2) Poor signage / signage does not comply to the BPA:CoP

Documents a breach of:

Section 18, paragraph 2

Section 18, paragraph 10

Section 3) Poor quality / illegible photographic evidence, and ambiguous ANPR evidence

Documents a breach of:

Section 20, Paragraph 5

To summarise, I will expecting a satisfactory response from the BPA which addresses the issues of, and details the sanctions applied to TPS for:

• Breaching Section 7 of the BPA Code of Practice

• Breaching Section 18 of the BPA Code of Practice

• Breaching Section 20 of the BPA Code of Practice

• Fabricating evidence

• Presenting fabricated evidence to an appellant

• Presenting fabricated evidence to BPA's recognised independent arbiter (POPLA)

Sincerely,

H S

bod1467

Boooooooooooooooom!!!!

Ralph-y

this thread should be incorporated into the newbie sticky .... or may be into a new sticky concerned with PPC's who have no authority on / in car parks that they allege to manage

A list of such places / car parks would be of much assistance .......

Ralph:cool:

danish57

A PRECISION piece of work - makes for great reading and inspirational.

basil_the_birman

Nice one Precision
Way to kick some !!!!!
You are awesome 😎

Precision

Response from the DVLA has come in; load of guff really


From: Andrea Black

Dear Ms S,

Thank you for your e-mail of 21st September regarding the release of information from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) vehicle register.

The DVLA takes the protection and security of its data very seriously and has procedures in place to ensure data is disclosed only where it is lawful and fair to do so and where the provisions of the Data Protection Act (DPA) are met. The Agency must strike a balance between ensuring the privacy of motorists is respected while enabling those who may have suffered loss or damage to seek redress.

Regulation 27 (1)(e) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 permits the disclosure of vehicle keeper information to those who can demonstrate a reasonable cause for needing it. The release of information under this legislation is not based on the consent of the data subject. Regulation 27 provides a legal gateway for the release of information. Disclosure in these circumstances does not breach the Data Protection Act and the Information Commissioner’s Office is fully aware that data held on the DVLA’s records is released in this way.

Drivers choosing to park a vehicle on private land do so subject to the terms and conditions set out on signage in the car park. The need to contact individuals who may not have complied with these conditions is, in most circumstances, considered to be a reasonable cause. Data is provided by the DVLA to enable landowners or their agents to pursue their legal rights and to address disputes. I hope you can appreciate that if this were not the case, motorists would be able to park with disregard for the conditions applying with little prospect of being held accountable.

I have investigated this matter with Total Parking Solutions Ltd who was able to provide me with evidence that a ‘Car Park Management Agreement’ is in place allowing them to manage the site located at Jubilee Retail Park, Weymouth, DT4 7BG. I am not in a position to comment on the decision made by POPLA. However you may be interested to know that to help ensure motorists are treated fairly when any private parking charge is pursued the DVLA discloses vehicle keeper information only to companies that are members of an appropriate Accredited Trade Association (ATA). The purpose of requiring a company to be a member of an ATA is to ensure that those who request DVLA information are legitimate companies that operate within a code of practice that promotes fair treatment of the motorist and ensures that there is a clear set of standards for operators.

The company in question, Total Parking Solutions Ltd, are members of the British Parking Association (BPA) which is an ATA for the parking industry. The BPA’s code of practice is published on its website at https://www.britishparking.co.uk under the heading “Approved Operators Scheme”. If you feel that any of the practices used by the company did not comply with the BPA’s code of practice, you may wish to contact the BPA at Stuart House, 41- 43 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 3BN.

Umkomaas

You could do a Freedom of Information request to view any correspondence between the DVLA and TPS, which should get you a view of that 'agreement'. It would be very interesting, especially if the DVLA have been fobbed off with the generic witness statement that does the rounds in PPC land.

Precision

compiling a response now. Any specific items I should request in the FOI? let me know, and ill post my reply after lunch.

Umkomaas

Copies of all correspondence between the DVLA and TPS from/to (dates covering your parking incident), to include written correspondence, email correspondence, all attachments to the correspondence, internal emails relating to your complaint. That would be a start.

Others might want to chip in, so don't rush this off just yet.

Precision

Yea I can hold fire for a bit, anyway, this is what I got loaded in my gun. After adjusting for any suggestions ill go ahead and pull the trigger later.



Dear Data Sharing Assurance Team,

NOTICE: This communication contains a Freedom of Information Request.

The response of the DVLA is unsatisfactory, namely because it directly conflicts with the response of the British Parking Associations (BPA) officially recognised arbiter (POPLA).

You may not be at liberty to comment on decisions made by POPLA, however I am, and I present the following quote from the supplied adjudication to reiterate my claim:

"..the Operator does not have the authority from the landowner to issue parking charge notices".

There is no ambiguity in the arbiter's statement, yet the DVLA makes claim to the exact opposite.

POPLA is the superior authority, not the DVLA, in judging whether or not a BPA AOS accredited operator does indeed have the authority from the landowner to issue parking charge notices on the land in question. The fact that your response does not accord is concerning.

The arbiter has stated that Total Parking Solutions Ltd (TPS) lacks the said authority on the land in question, therefore, TPS has failed to meet the standard of "reasonable use" defined under Section 27 (1)(e) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002.

Your response implies that you have contacted TPS about this matter, and in response TPS have furnished you with "evidence" asserting otherwise.

Once again, I will quote the previously supplied POPLA adjudication: "The Operator has provided a witness statement, however, this witness statement is made and signed by their own employee and therefore not valid.".

This adjudication shows that TPS deliberately lied.

Further, it shows that TPS knowingly fabricated evidence to "prove" that they do have the required authority. TPS presented this fake "evidence" to BPA's officially recognised arbiter and I have no doubt that TPS would treat the DVLA with similar contempt by proffering this same fabricated "evidence" to them.

In light of the above, I hereby make a Freedom of Information Request under the rights afforded to me by the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

Name:

xxx xxx

Address:

xxx xxx
xxx
xxx
xxx xxx

Contact:

xxx@xxx.com

Response preference:

electronic (email to the supplied address)

Glossary:

TPS:

Total Parking Solutions Ltd
SATRA Innovation Park
Rockingham Road
Kettering
Northants
NN16 9JH

JRP:

Jubilee Retail Park
Weymouth
Dorset
DT4 7BG

By the rights afforded to me, I request the following information:

1) Details of every request, received by the DVLA, to supply information about the vehicle with the registration xxxx xxx (of which I am registered keeper), between the dates of 28/05/2015 00:00 to 24/09/2015 00:00 inclusive.

The information should include:

The date and time of the request
State whether the request was approved or denied
Name the person / company that made the request
Show the data that was supplied

2) Copies of all documents in possession by the DLVA, on the date 28/05/2015 00:00, in relation to TPS and JRP, that can used to meet the standard of "reasonable use" under Section 27 (1)(e) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002.

3) Copies of all correspondence between the DVLA and TPS, from the date 28/05/2015 00:00 to 24/09/2015 00:00 inclusive.

This information should include:

All written correspondence
All email correspondence
All attachments to said correspondence
Any evidence supplied by TPS in defence of: the complaint I lodged against them, and your investigation of said complaint.

4) Copies of all internal DVLA correspondence relating to the complaint that was lodged by myself on 21/09/2015 against TPS.

I require full relevant response to each and every point raised in the foregoing list within the time scale that is allowed to you by the act.

Yours faithfully,

H S