Victory for Motorists: MHCLG Caps Parking Charges at £50 (£80 in London) with Mandatory 50% Discount

Castle

Half_way said:

I've often wondered what the point of the BPA/IPC etc is, if  a significant number motorists will pay a  yellow envelope then why bother going to the DVLA when the motorist will either pay up, or hand the information over on a plate? 

 

As for the rest of it, i've noticed on here more people posting that they are in the court process/court process starting phase as opposed to the received ticket stage PPCs last feeding frenzy?

To give "cover" to the DVLA ; so that the DVLA don't have to make any effort to check if the PPC has "reasonable cause".

beamerguy

Umkomaas said:

Here's an interesting BBC Money Box podcast from yesterday. Includes an interview with Eddie Hughes MP of MHCLG (who continues to speak of fines and penalties) and with Steve Clark of the BPA who while painting a veil of welcome for the new arrangements, revealed the obvious panic on the PPC front, even suggesting that some of them might go out of business (sob, sob 😭) or that they might turn rogue (how does a rogue turn rogue?) and start sticking parking tickets on windscreens (obviously no DVLA access, so that's not likely to keep the yacht afloat!). 

More dire predictions of carmageddon (#2), all of us having to pay in future for hitherto free parking at supermarkets and those outside London thinking that £25 per day (50% of) PCN will find it 'economic', and those in London at £40 per day.  All sounded a bit desperate. 

Scroll forward to 15:45 minutes. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000tmb4

Good link, just listened.  It started with the HMRC scam doing the rounds and next up was Clark of the BPA.  The similarity is uncanny ?
Are there two Steve Clark's ?  On the BBC he seems to love the new code yet he writes that the government is nonsensical.  The man should use a crib sheet next time on the media

Now he talks about kicking out those who break the code .... TOO LATE for this, the BPA should have done this years ago.  For those members who will probably go bust, blame your own trade body for being so weak for not clamping down on the rogue traders they call members

For the BPA it is pure incompetence and greed ..... now they will suffer

So will the even more incompetent and greedy IPC

Snakes_Belly

"Cannot see too many supermarkets introducing payments - they are desperate for business these days!  If there is a choice of two or more supermarkets in your area, which one will you frequent, the free or the paid for?  Some round here have a "buy a ticket and get it off your bill system" but most are free and the car parks and supermarkets are generally well-used."

During the pandemic more people have used online shopping and had their groceries delivered. This is not the most cost effective selling platform for supermarkets. After the pandemic they will want to get people back into stores. There is more opportunity for cross selling in the stores, clothing etc. I cannot see them introducing parking tariffs. People will just order online.

What they could do is to ditch the PPC and employ a person to police the car park. Any infringement to result in a donation to the food bank.   

Half_way

I'm sure i can remember going to the supermarket with my parents when i was little and there being a token to get out of the car park/hand to someone in a cabin .

And in more recent times, i vivited a car park in Derbyshire, at a place called dove dale, where there was someone with a jacket on, upon entry you paid and got a ticket https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.0556277,-1.7828206,3a,75y,243.95h,60.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stCZ8RF-jsTH8g_B7_WcsYw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

beamerguy

And here is another problem under discussion by the DVLA ...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9411221/Over-70s-poor-health-facing-ban-night-time-driving-licence-shake-up.html

Over 70's with health problems may be restricted to only driving 30 miles from home and a ban driving at night.  The maniacs that I see every day on our roads are not in their 70's or older, they are in the 18-30 age group and many have drug problems. They are the danger on the roads

But think further, there are millions of over 70 drivers who drive to holiday resorts around the country every year, they have to park somewhere, whilst away, they shop and park in supermarkets ? .... if they can only drive 30 miles from home, just imagine the loss to supermarkets and in turn parking companies. I imagine it is the older people that will pay parking tickets without question because that is the way they were brought up.

Of course, I am all for safe drivers. I have a no claims bonus going back many years  but for goodness sake government do something about these road maniacs that use our roads as race tracks.

So, such an action will be a big loss to parking companies especially in holiday areas where they cream off £millions.

What do you guys think ?

Coupon-mad

Umkomaas said:

Here's an interesting BBC Money Box podcast from yesterday. Includes an interview with Eddie Hughes MP of MHCLG (who continues to speak of fines and penalties) and with Steve Clark of the BPA who while painting a veil of welcome for the new arrangements, revealed the obvious panic on the PPC front, even suggesting that some of them might go out of business (sob, sob 😭) or that they might turn rogue (how does a rogue turn rogue?) and start sticking parking tickets on windscreens (obviously no DVLA access, so that's not likely to keep the yacht afloat!). 

More dire predictions of carmageddon (#2), all of us having to pay in future for hitherto free parking at supermarkets and those outside London thinking that £25 per day (50% of) PCN will find it 'economic', and those in London at £40 per day.  All sounded a bit desperate. 

Scroll forward to 15:45 minutes. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000tmb4

Really disappointing to hear Steve Clark give a false statistic that ''99.5% of motorists are compliant'' which is untrue.

It has been said in articles in the public domain over recent months, that 99.7% of parking events on private land don't result in a parking charge. What that stat really means is that every driver is likely to get one, on average, every hundredth time they park on private land, go to the shops, retail park, supermarket, cinema, doctors, residential flats, restaurant, hospital, et al. 

In a normal non-pandemic year that's a risk of one unfair parking charge every few months, for everyone.

NOT the same as ''99.5 of motorists are compliant''. 

Apparently, 81% of ''the public'' wanted a 3 tier system of very high (speeding fine level) parking charges and 40% discount. 

Course they did.

The_Slithy_Tove

Le_Kirk said:
If there is a choice of two or more supermarkets in your area, which one will you frequent, the free or the paid for?  Some round here have a "buy a ticket and get it off your bill system" but most are free and the car parks and supermarkets are generally well-used.

Such schemes are usually in place where the alternative nearby parking is chargeable (whether private or council), so they have to do this so as not to get overrun by people not shopping there. In fact I know of one supermarket who were forced to charge by the council (this was years ago, before PPC-mageddon).
And many supermarkets have to enforce parking, normally in the form of maximum stay. Any that is within easy distance of a station risks having commuters parking there all day otherwise.

beamerguy

Coupon-mad said:

Umkomaas said:

Here's an interesting BBC Money Box podcast from yesterday. Includes an interview with Eddie Hughes MP of MHCLG (who continues to speak of fines and penalties) and with Steve Clark of the BPA who while painting a veil of welcome for the new arrangements, revealed the obvious panic on the PPC front, even suggesting that some of them might go out of business (sob, sob 😭) or that they might turn rogue (how does a rogue turn rogue?) and start sticking parking tickets on windscreens (obviously no DVLA access, so that's not likely to keep the yacht afloat!). 

More dire predictions of carmageddon (#2), all of us having to pay in future for hitherto free parking at supermarkets and those outside London thinking that £25 per day (50% of) PCN will find it 'economic', and those in London at £40 per day.  All sounded a bit desperate. 

Scroll forward to 15:45 minutes. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000tmb4

Really disappointing to hear Steve Clark trot out the false statistic that ''99.5% of motorists are compliant'' which he knows is untrue.


What's that phrase about ''lies, damned lies, and statistics''? 

What was that 81% statistic again...oh yes, apparently 81% of ''the public'' wanted a 3 tier rip off system of parking charges and 40% discount. 
Course they did.

Sad that Mr Clark has turned the BPA into a mickey mouse company ?

Now we have two mickey mouse ATA's operating

Castle

Coupon-mad said:

Umkomaas said:

Here's an interesting BBC Money Box podcast from yesterday. Includes an interview with Eddie Hughes MP of MHCLG (who continues to speak of fines and penalties) and with Steve Clark of the BPA who while painting a veil of welcome for the new arrangements, revealed the obvious panic on the PPC front, even suggesting that some of them might go out of business (sob, sob 😭) or that they might turn rogue (how does a rogue turn rogue?) and start sticking parking tickets on windscreens (obviously no DVLA access, so that's not likely to keep the yacht afloat!). 

More dire predictions of carmageddon (#2), all of us having to pay in future for hitherto free parking at supermarkets and those outside London thinking that £25 per day (50% of) PCN will find it 'economic', and those in London at £40 per day.  All sounded a bit desperate. 

Scroll forward to 15:45 minutes. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000tmb4

Really disappointing to hear Steve Clark trot out the false statistic that ''99.5% of motorists are compliant'' which he knows is untrue.

If that was true and 0.5% of motorists accounted for the 10 million DVLA requests, (in a normal year), then the number of UK drivers would be 2 billion; (it's actually around 48 million at present).

bargepole

What Mr Clark actually means, is that 99.5% of parking 'events' are compliant with the terms and conditions.

To see how that works in practice, take the example of the Riverside Retail Park in Chelmsford, which was the subject of the Beavis case.

It has around 500 spaces, serving some 13 retail outlets, including a McDonalds and a Costa. Parking is free for 2 hours, and the site is open from 8am - 8pm.

Most visitors will stay for less than 2 hours, apart from a small number of overstayers. So let's assume that the average stay time is 1.5 hours.

The car park will be fairly full at peak weekend times, and less so during the week. So let's assume an average of 60% occupancy.

That means that, on average, there will be 300 spaces, each turning over 8 parking sessions in a 12-hour period, which means 2,400 parking 'events'.

0.5% of those (according to BPA figures) are overstayers, so that's 12 x PCNs issued daily, or 84 per week. We know, from the first Beavis hearing, that Parking Eye pay the landowner £1,000 per week for the privilege of operating there. They also claimed that the average revenue per paid PCN was £64.

So 84 PCNs x £64 gives a weekly income of £5,376, a very healthy return on their £1,000 investment.

Under the new CoP, their charge will be capped at £50 (£25 for prompt payment). Therefore, the average revenue per paid PCN is likely to be about £30.

So 84 x £30 = £2,520, still a profit, and of course they may decide to renegotiate with the landowner to reduce the weekly bounty amount.

This shows that it will still be possible for PPCs to operate profitably under the new regime, and all that it really means is that some of the owners of these companies might have to rethink their extravagant salaries, and purchases of luxury items such as gated mansions, yachts, Aston Martins and helicopters.