Breaking News: Government has announced the statutory Code of Practice, and Enforcement Framework

ihatetrump

There was much made earlier in this thread that the COP would not be introduced until the end of next year & why wait so long?

Unless I missed it, I don't see that mentioned in the link. The only reference to 2023 is this:

Private parking companies who do not follow the Code by the end of 2023 could be banned from accessing Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data.

Doesn't this imply that the Code will be introduced sooner but the PPC's have until the end of 2023 to get their act together? An earlier introduction may be on the cards and certainly the add-on collection fees hopefully will start to disappear sooner - next week wouldn't be too soon!

Trainerman

Jenni_D said:

bargepole said:

Here is the official announcement on the DLUHC website:

Government clamps down on rogue parking firms with new Code of Practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Still too much use of the F word in there though 🙄

BrownTrout said:

bargepole said:

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of @Coupon-mad 's contribution to the Steering Group, which was largely responsible for getting to this point.

The parking industry probably thought that they could feed the Government their usual BS propaganda, and end up with a cut-and-paste CoP which was an amalgamation of the current BPA and IPC versions, with very little change to the current status quo.

But that has proved to be not the case, and unlike in the lead-up to POFA 2012, where the BPA falsely inflated court claim figures by a factor of 100, the Government were not going to be fooled again. 

Ironically, it was the whinging by the industry about the lower level capped charges, that led to the further consultation in August 2021. That consultation also raised the issue of the added £70 debt collection fees, which were robustly opposed by consumer groups, and MPs. During the last few months, the Department clearly did a U-turn on that issue, and rightly so,

Indeed she has worked so hard Over the last few years and has been a tireless campaigner on here (many late late nights) and away from here doing the Consultation work etc, and she has never just given up.  (Getting the backs up of the parking firms in the meantime which is an added bonus) I have known her for what seems many years now and although there are several issues we don't see eye to eye on I am very proud of the work she has achieved! (although she still supports some rubbish football team) unlike myself who is ardent Hereford FC fan!

Don't mention that team to me! #NewcastleFan 🤣

Used to work in that neck of the woods @Jenni_D. Still the second score I look out for

Coupon-mad

Private parking companies who do not follow the Code by the end of 2023 could be banned from accessing Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data.
Doesn't this imply that the Code will be introduced sooner but the PPC's have until the end of 2023 to get their act together?

Yes, that is a grandfather period and pretty generous, certainly achievable by professional companies.

Changing signage and processes like template letters doesn't take long.  Re-training takes a bit longer but they will be expected to be working to the Code asap.

Neil O'Brien MP stated that in a reply to an MP's question in 2021, that they wanted to get the Code published so PPCs can start working to it.

Alpha2011

To echo the comments of others, a massive well done and thank you to all the forum regulars on here for all the tireless work and help offered which has gone some way to culminating in the victory for common sense in the Government announcement earlier. No response yet from either the BPA or IPC, though I suspect they’ll both be too busy throwing the toys out of their prams at this particular moment!! 😜😂

Loanranger21

From Autumn 2022 all new car parks will adhere to the code

Le_Kirk

27.  In contrast, the 32% that disagreed with the proposal did so because they thought the cap is set too high and does not reflect genuine enforcement costs or did not think that debt recovery is a suitable mechanism to recover unpaid parking charges. Out of the 32% that disagreed, 8% contemplated whether a disputed parking charge can even be considered a debt, arguing that it should be for the court to decide whether the debt for unpaid parking charge exists. 3% questioned the disparity between court fees and the proposed cap. Others questioned why court fees should be captured within the cap when successful debt recovery process does not trigger court proceedings. Some respondents argued that DRAs operate on no win, no fee basis and as such, private parking operators do not incur additional cost. In total, 18% of all respondents called for the proposal to be scrapped and debt collection to be banned altogether.

Well haven't we been saying that all the time?

Loanranger21

By end of 2023 parking operators must now follow the requirements of the code 

Half_way

Without having the time to look in detail, does the new code have any time limits?
The current 6 years to bring a civil claim is far too long, and catches many out when a zombie case come back to life 5 years+ later

BrownTrout

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-parking-code-of-practice/private-parking-code-of-practice

Section 10 sounds very good!!

Umkomaas

Here's a corker lifted from the Foreword by Neil O'Brien MP. 

Private firms issue roughly 22,000 parking tickets every day, often adopting a labyrinthine system of misleading and confusing signage, opaque appeals services, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists.