Parking stories in the News/media

Kaizen2024

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81936673#Comment_81936673

Not really, GPOL is old news.

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81936683#Comment_81936683

Replaced by a 'legitimate interest' test which double recovery of the same heads of cost doesn't meet.

If you can't see why that doesn't work, given Beavis (and Schedule 4 which expressly disallows double recovery) then that's your industry's problem.

Liam McNulty was in the DLUHC and did a webinar in 2021 at the point when the department had fallen for some old spiel and had swallowed your industry's story that adding £70 was 'the industry norm'.

Do you mean that webinar? At the time of the Public Consultation back in 2021? If so, the Tory Government recognised their terrible error in being duped about an 'extortion' layer and the double recovery add-on was confined to the bin, long since.

Or do you mean another webinar when Liam was (maybe) in the DCLG, years before that? Again, it's history.

As for the MoJ:

They have proved clueless about the way this sector is overloading the courts with champertous claims to harvest CCJs and share enhanced money (then they run away before hearings) and they appear to be clueless about the 'costs' aspect of the Beavis case.

Which I get, because to glean that, you don't just scratch the surface by reading the final judgment. People who aren't FULLY familiar with that Supreme Court case think it didn't deal with the costs of enforcement letters.

Thing is, it absolutely did cover that!

Much depends in the question you ask the MoJ. Ask the wrong question and you'll always get the wrong answer.

Fruitcake

This Miscrosoft News article is mostly about council PCNs, but there is one segment about the unregulated private industry that is fairly accurate and does advise motorists not to name the driver.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/how-to-challenge-a-parking-ticket-and-win/ss-AA1Ze0d8?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=69c50e796ec44e37ab1b7500bcdeb902&ei=84

Coupon-mad

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/move-outsource-parking-enforcement-could-161548775.html

Move to outsource parking enforcement could make South Ayrshire motorists 'easy targets,' union warns:

“Surely, they don’t want to be associated with a plan for parking fines to be issued by a company based hundreds of miles away, with little stake in Ayrshire’s communities."

The council’s preferred parking enforcement provider - Marston Holdings - was previously forced to issue a refund programme after overcharging people it was pursuing over debts.

The regulation body said the company’s behaviour was ‘unacceptable’ and had breached regulations designed to protect the public.

*******************************

Marstons, eh?!

Britain’s biggest bailiff firm forced into refunds programme after overcharging

Where the BPA President Mike Marrs was for over two decades, ending up as business development director. I mean he left in 2023 but he was there at the time of COVID and the resulting cost of living crisis, when the Guardian reported that the profits of leading bailiff firms had seen a rise to record levels.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/15/britains-biggest-bailiff-firm-forced-into-refunds-programme-after-overcharging

What could possibly go wrong?!

Coupon-mad

OMG - the scam ANPR plus barrier-less approach 'forget to pay later … please' is expanding at Manchester to a car park, too:

https://www.burytimes.co.uk/news/25969446.barrierless-parking-system-installed-manchester-airport/

Manchester Airport posted a statement: "From 00:01 on 25 March, a new barrierless parking system has been introduced at T2 West Multi Storey - P3, designed to make your journey quicker and easier."

And c£95 more expensive…

Just watch this moneymaking unfairness - preying on human nature & busy lives causing good people to genuinely forget, if they aren't given a fair option to pay on site - expand to outside of Airports.

This will be the new normal unless the MHCLG and CMA weigh in and require a way to pay by card on site and/or opt in for a text reminder in good time.

Coupon-mad

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15595417/amp/Foodbank-fights-unfair-500-parking-fines-picking-donations-Tesco.html

Foodbank is hit with £500 in parking fines... for spending 15 minutes picking up donations

A foodbank was hit with £500 worth of parking tickets for overstaying in a bay by a few minutes while picking up donations at Tesco. Middlesbrough Foodbank says it had been using the drop-off zone in the Parkway Shopping Centre, Middlesbrough, for years. 

But since January, it has been slapped with hundreds of pounds in fines from newly installed parking cameras. One parking fine showed that volunteers had only stayed 51 seconds over the signposted 10-minute limit. On two other occasions, volunteers were fined for staying in the bay for 14 minutes and 15 minutes to load their van. 

'I'm going to fight this every step of the way. We're not going to take it lying down. I just think it's ridiculous,' said Tracey Godfrey-Harrison, project manager at the foodbank.

She added:

'I think it's terrible that anybody should get fined for something so small but we're a charity so that £500 is £500 less we have to buy food for people who need it.'

Ms Godfrey-Harrison said that the foodbank does not get enough food donations, so it relies on cash donations to buy groceries. 'That money is a quarter of our monthly shopping bill. It's been taken out of the mouths of the people in Middlesbrough that need it... I just think it's disgusting,' she added.

Parkway Shopping Centre hired contractor UK Parking Control (UKPC) to send out the 'fines'. The foodbank project manager said that she had appealed but that one had already been rejected. She expected that all of her appeals would be rejected as they were judged by UKPC.

In the letter seen by the Mail, UKPC wrote to the foodbank: 'We have carefully considered your appeal based on the information provided and the evidence supporting the parking charge. In this instance having completed our assessment, we consider the parking charge to have been correctly issued, as the vehicle was parked in a drop-off point.'

The retail park cancelled them when the paper picked the story up.

UKPC were also contacted for comment. 

Course they were. Silence is telling.

The BPA must be so proud.

Coupon-mad

Council's ANPR plans in Rhyl will 'waste money' and 'go against regeneration of high streets':

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/news-opinion/plea-make-car-parks-free-33656103

The committee reviewed the proposals and offered feedback on improving enforcement coverage, with a full report set for discussion at an upcoming Denbighshire County Council meeting at Ruthin County Hall.

Adriano Z points out: “Rhyl has very little to offer, and it feels like DCC is taking away the few visitors the town still gets. DCC, you are destroying Rhyl.”

Annabel K agrees: “Why not let people park freely so they can spend money in shops instead of being discouraged by ridiculous parking fees? I avoid Rhyl because parking is impossible.”

Ludo M agrees: “Like many, we avoid pay-to-park, and witness big underutilised carparks. This is very damaging to the retail sector that pays huge business rates to the very councils that are driving trade away. They won't listen.”

Stuart P states: “They’ve got money for ANPR cameras but can’t seem to find any for proper services. Makes you wonder where the priorities are.”

Commenter Chris J asks: “Wouldn't it be cheaper and more productive to make car parks free?”

Bernie M replies: “Most car parks in Prestatyn and Denbighshire are free, and the area boasts a lively shopping centre and busy high street.”

Brighter Futures complains:

“Putting ANPR cameras in car parks in Rhyl completely goes against any idea of regeneration. This is already one of the most deprived towns in Wales. The priority should be bringing people in, making it easy, welcoming, and stress-free to visit, shop, and spend time here. Instead, we’re getting more surveillance, strict time limits, and the constant risk of fines. That doesn’t encourage footfall... it drives people away.

Fewer visitors means less money going into local businesses, which are already struggling. It also hits local people the hardest. In a town where many are already financially stretched, this just feels like another way of taking money out of the community rather than investing in it. Regeneration should be about rebuilding confidence in the town, not making people feel like they’re being watched and penalised for staying too long.”

John C adds:

"Town and city centres are shutting down as businesses struggle with outdated rates and online competition. Maybe councils should consider free parking to help keep them alive.”

It's not rocket science…

patient_dream

The food bank story above.

Before I read it was UKPC, to was obvious it was UKPC.

Why they were not kicked out by the BPA and DVLA with their time stamp scam, it beggars belief

UKPC just like Euro should be investigated by the CMA DUE TO THEIR ANTICS and it's dishusting they attack a charity

nigelbb

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81938431#Comment_81938431

Councils are in any case forbidden to use ANPR cameras for parking enforcement. Perhaps Denbighshire County Council should contact High Wycombe Council who wasted millions of pounds on an ill-fated attempt to use ANPR cameras for parking enforcement?

https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/15022494.council-forced-to-ditch-anpr-parking-system-in-favour-of-pay-and-display/

Kaizen2024

There is no suggestion that they will be issuing postal charges. The artciel effectively says they will be using ANPR to identify trends with a view to assist planning patrol routes for CEOs.