Parking (Code of Practice) Bill - What Should Be In The New Code of Practice?

bargepole

I have no inside knowledge of what might be contained in the draft new statutory Code of Practice which is already in the House of Commons library, but there will be a further consultation period once the Parking (Code of Practice) Bill becomes an Act.

These are my top 10 suggestions of what should be in the Code:

1. All private parking charges to be capped at the rates, and discounts for prompt payment, currently applicable to Local Authority off-street penalty charges. Currently, these are £50 (£25) outside London, and £80 (£40) in London Boroughs.

2. All signage to be compliant with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, in terms of colour, font sizes, and clarity of terms. Signs must be clearly displayed at the entrance to any parking area, and be not more than 30 metres apart within the area.

3. The acronym 'PCN', or the words 'Parking Charge Notice' must not be used on any windscreen tickets or subsequent correspondence. Windscreen tickets should be headed 'Notice To Driver', with the words 'Private Parking Invoice' immediately underneath. Letters sent to keepers must be headed 'Notice To Keeper', with 'Private Parking Invoice' immediately underneath, and must meet all of the statutory requirements of Schedule 4 of POFA 2012.

4. Where validation of parking is required by entry of registration number into a terminal or machine, it must not be possible to enter an invalid registration number, or the registration number of a vehicle which is not physically present in the parking area.

5. Operators wishing to issue parking charges in car parks assigned to residential locations, must first canvass the residents of all properties within the location, and can only issue parking charges if at least 75% of the residents are in agreement with such an arrangement.

6. Where free parking periods are granted, the period must be extended by at least 1 hour in the case of any driver, or passenger in the vehicle, possessing a protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010. The existence or absence of a Blue Badge does not cover all such characteristics, and should not be a factor in any enforcement decision.

7. Motorists must be given 28 days from issue of a Notice To Keeper, to appeal to the Operator. Operators must respond to the appeal within 28 days, either cancelling the parking charge, or if refusing the appeal, sending a letter giving details of the Statutory Appeals Service (SAS), and a code number for the motorist to make an appeal to that body.

8. Operators pursuing unpaid parking charges may not sell or assign the alleged debt to any third party organisation.

9. Operators wishing to pursue unpaid parking charges via litigation must, for any charge issued more than 6 months prior, re-validate the correct address of the registered keeper.

10. Operators found to be operating in breach of this Code will be sanctioned by the Secretary of State, for each and every breach, as follows: First Offence - 3 months' exclusion from access to DVLA keeper data; Second Offence - 6 months' exclusion; Third Offence - permanent exclusion.

trisontana

Re windscreen tickets. The colour scheme of yellow and black used by councils must not be used by PPCs.

Coupon-mad

Very good!

I would add:

- if a disabled person is accused of non-display of Blue Badge, and they subsequently prove they/a passenger had one, then the PCN is to be cancelled (in line with Council policy which allows for this in most areas).

- Blue Badge holders cannot be fined for parking on a double yellow/single yellow for 3 hours because this is allowed, and should be consistent.

- the Equality Act MUST be considered when an appellant puts forward an account to the SAS that shows they have protected characteristics.

- the NHS Parking Principles MUST also be considered, if its a NHS car park.

- the ICO Surveillance camera CoP MUST be considered if it is an ANPR car park and ALL double dip cases heard by the SAS should all be passed to the ICO to investigate the possibility that the cameras are not suitable or the use is excessive/flawed. Or, ANPR to be banned, after all it was banned from Council car parks...

- standard appearance and thick paper for permits and PDT machine tickets which must be sticky-backed and not flimsy paper, and which must be double-sided to eliminate the possibility of penalties for fluttering tickets (upside down). And if an appellant proves they had a permit then the PCN must be cancelled, if this is the first 'offence'.

- loading/unloading is not parking and neither is boarding/alighting or assisted boarding alighting. All of these are exempt activity (for up to 20 mins) on single/double yellows and if a PPC wants to communicate a no-stopping area they need to use 'Council-like' lines and signs about loading bans. i.e. double yellows with kerb blips as well, or double red lines, or a single yellow with regular 'loading ban' signage with clear hours of operation.

- eliminate the hybrid 'THIS IS NOT A PARKING CHARGE' scam. One thing or the other.

- PPCs must follow the POFA, if not then they can't operate. Alternatively, ditch the POFA 'keeper liability' entirely!

- windscreen PCNs cannot be placed by non-ATA members like at Haworth (criminal offence to impersonate a parking ticket).

trisontana

To add to the above, if a store says that you will be granted extra time if you are disabled or elderly, then this concession must be prominently displayed both on car-park and in-store signage. Usually, this only comes to light when people complain.

abedegno

Tax payable revenue from parking charge notices (minus costs) is 100%. The issuance of parking charge notices should be to dissuade violation of parking terms - not a money-making exercise.

Castle

bargepole wrote: »

7. Motorists must be given 28 days from issue of a Notice To Keeper, to appeal to the Operator. Operators must respond to the appeal within 28 days, either cancelling the parking charge, or if refusing the appeal, sending a letter giving details of the Statutory Appeals Service (SAS), and a code number for the motorist to make an appeal to that body.

Given how many letters/codes go missing I'd suggest that the SAS, (nice one!), should send out the code but only after it has been paid for by the PPC; no more free "no contests".

Umkomaas

If the motorist is required to pay following a loss at SAS, then a win at SAS would require a PPC to pay compensation to the motorist for the stress and strain they have been subjected to.

Actually, whether the motorist is required to pay or not, the latter, regarding the PPC should still apply. If they lose, they have incorrectly pursued this. And they will have had no reasonable cause to access the DVLA database - ergo, DVLA sanctions too.

Johno100

1) Give up to 12 months to appeal to the new independent appeals service in line with the ADR regulations.

2) The name and contact details of the principal to the contract be it the landowner, managing agent etc. to be prominently displayed on the PCN.

3) Requirement that parking companies must ensure they have the necessary planning permissions and advertising consents for any site they operate on.

System

Seems an odd thread. Should we read something into it?

Johno100

IamEmanresu wrote: »

Seems an odd thread. Should we read something into it?

Why? Just a wish list.

peter_the_piper

Reduce the time limit that they have for taking out a county court claim down to 6months/12 months. Stop the ppc's from waiting until the victim has forgotten or lost all the details. Ban ANPR to stop double dipping.