Parking stories in the News/media

ChirpyChicken

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870442#Comment_81870442

Just will spouting rubbish.

You wonder how someone can lead an organisation who is hated by a majority of operators within the IPC.

The stuff they say about him

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870442#Comment_81870442

What a load of desperate codswallop!

Their 'data' is plain laughable.

And nobody - not the last government in 2022 nor the present government - said that blocking an ambulance bay or disabled bay should be lower rate.

The 2022 Code had those at higher rate. And that's OK as long as genuine disabled motorists see charges cancelled when they dispute the matter at any point during the pre-action letter phase.

The real issue with parking charge caps (both the Joint Code version and the MHCLG's short-sighted Options Assessment error) is the lack of proportionality.

Spending too long shopping or making a minor typo in your VRM when a genuine patron of a business, should NEVER lead to the shock of £100 fake fine in the post.

Ideally, to help the High Streets recover, there should be no PCN at all but instead, do what Tesco used to do: a first warning letter in partnership with the retailer (no penalty at all) for overstays.

And that letter should also communicate the message that disabled motorists can exempt their vehicle if they need more time, and it should tell them how.

But no, the IPC likes to spread the rhetoric that all PCNs should be eye-wateringly high.

That's not how an effective deterrent or nudge on human behaviour works. In fact quite the opposite is true, according to economic studies galore.

Sigh…

Talking of disabled bays, the IPC also trotted out this load of guff in 2023 which their friend Helen Dolphin blindly propped up, like she always does:

<snip the rest>

I cut her twaddle off because she always comes across as a pet, kept in the IPC's pocket and brought out when she can be useful for their narrative. It's sad because Helen COULD be a great disability advocate otherwise, but she's apparently clueless about the outrageous scam operated by PPCs.

Now, I used to work in two different Disability services so I think I know my stuff.

When I read that 2023 article, my first thought (apart from laughing at the IPC for suggesting that £100 is 'inadequate') was:

Why do the industry spout that every motorist in a big car in an accessible bay who pays a fake fine early was abusing the bay?

Do they think that disabled people don't drive big vehicles? In my experience they often do, especially the elderly…who will ALWAYS be likely to pay bills without querying them even if it was just that their Blue Badge slipped.

And the supposed "300% increase" in disabled bay PCNs issued by Agena firms between 2021 and 2022 is significantly explained by:

• Covid shielding (disabled people took longer than most to emerge back into daily shopping activity so there were FAR fewer PCNs - of all types - in the years 2020 and 2021) and
  
• the increase by 2022 is also explained by the explosion of completely unregulated CCTV (data abuse) on private land and the new jolly wheeze of 'bay monitoring' which now polices accessible bays remotely 24/7 but (illegally) expects disabled people to jump through extra hoops but fails to tell them. Just dupes them into thinking they only need to display their Blue Badge as usual & churns out a PCN.

I don't know how they sleep at night and look their families in the eye without feeling ashamed.

Then again, in general, some of the wider industry's personal backgrounds are so dubious that the feeling of shame must be like water off a duck's back.

Taiko

Picked up from linkedin just now, if not already known.

Jenni_D

Unfortunately, too many judges cut the parking companies far too much slack when it comes to PoFA technical breaches. 🙄

Umkomaas

2. Data shows that when a parking charge is issued at £70 vs £100, non‐compliance doubles.

What BS data proves this rubbish? How many £70 PCNs do we actually see? Most of the snouts in the trough are only issuing £100 PCNs.

cooldude255220

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81871527#Comment_81871527

That is very interesting.

It may be worth keeping in mind when dealing with Notices which are purportedly issued under POFA, but everything else is in order, especially if POPLA are willing to give it a fair shake.

kryten3000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870467#Comment_81870467

If they hate him so much, why don't they go back to the BPA? :D

ChirpyChicken

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81872160#Comment_81872160

Phone up a couple of the small parking firms and have a candid conversation with them 😅 you would be surprised how much they have to say. They really dont need a lot of prompting when you drop him into the conversation

I guess the IPC serves a purpose. Its all transactional. So they just get on with their business. I am sure we all do business with people we really do not like

Coupon-mad

Don't worry. Seen that data twisting - (fake news) so many times and the MHCLG is well aware what that data really shows.

The data does exist but it doesn't mean what they say it does. Chicken before the egg. Correlation isn't causation!

Coupon-mad

Terribly written article that doesn't explain who was FOI'd or what sort of 'PCNs' at (or is it near) a hospital they are talking about. Private or Council? No clue here from the BBC:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80140xmj8ko

But (for once) I found out more on Facebook.

This is a site 'run' by Open Parking who are paid by the NHS Trust.

The FOI response…

The gist of the FB article:

The Greater Manchester hospital car park 'trapping patients' with huge number of fines doled out