Private parking firms should not regulate themselves | Global News Avenue

An MP said he was receiving an “increasing number” of complaints about private car parks and said the industry should not regulate itself.

Derby South MP Budge Shank said he had been contacted by a number of people who had been punished in Derbyshire Controversial Copeland Street car park in his constituency – including one of his own colleagues.

After being announced by relevant departments Rosie Hudson case – Who was ‘fined’ nearly £2,000 for taking more than five minutes to pay for parking – two private parking industry associations announced that they were setting up a group Revise and monitor the industry’s own code of conduct.

However, Shank and 11 other councilors called on the government to introduce a statutory code of conduct that private car park operators must adhere to.

Shank said: “It is clear from the inquiries we are now receiving in Derby and from other colleagues across the country that the voluntary code is simply not working.

“They came up with a set of practices that they claimed they would adhere to, but it’s clear they weren’t strong enough and weren’t adhered to correctly, so we think the only way to address this is to have a mandatory code.”

He said his colleague had received a parking charge notice (PCN) for the same reason as Miss Hudson.

“Basically, she parked her car there and took her kids to go on a fun jump, and another time, her husband parked there and her parents parked there,” he said.

“It took them more than five minutes (to pay) because of the poor equipment.”

She and her relatives paid three £60 PCNs rather than challenge them – something Shank said many drivers also did because they were afraid of going to court.

Shank and other MPs believe regulations are needed to protect drivers from “ambiguous and unfair behaviour”.

In a letter to Local Growth Minister Alex Norris, they wrote: “We believe reliance on self-regulation is insufficient.

“Statutory regulation has been proven time and time again to be the most effective way to protect consumers in other industries such as banking, energy and telecommunications.

“Obviously the same approach must be applied to the private parking industry as well.”

Those behind the letter include Derby North MP Catherine Atkinson, who previously Raise the issue in Parliament – and Darlington MP Lola McEvoy – have been helping constituents Ordered to pay costs in excess of £11,000.

The letter said each councilor had received numerous complaints against the operator from drivers who “faced substantial financial penalties for late payments even when they reported that they were making genuine efforts to comply.”

“Factors beyond their control include unclear or misleading signage, malfunctioning payment machines and insufficient alternative methods of purchasing tickets,” the letter added.

private parking industry Existing code of conduct Launched in June 2024 by the British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC).

These are two accredited trade associations (ATA) for private parking operators.

Car park operators need to be members of the ATA to purchase drivers’ names and addresses from the DVLA to be able to send them fines.

Statistics published by the DVLA It is recommended that operators issue more PCNs than before.

In the first half of the 2024-25 financial year, car park operators paid 7,236,328 custodian details to the DVLA.

This compares to 4,770,984 for the entire 2016-17 financial year. That number has been growing steadily every year, except for a dip during the 2020-21 pandemic.

Although these PCNs are often referred to as fines, they are actually letters demanding money due to an alleged breach of contract.

Parking lot operators often believe that drivers are in breach of contract because they fail to comply with the terms and conditions of a particular parking lot, for example, by not paying for parking within a certain period of time, or by incorrectly entering their car registration number.

The previous government issued a code of conduct in February 2022, Expected to come into effect by the end of 2023.

However, the plans were withdrawn following a legal challenge from several parking companies.

IPC CEO Will Hurley said that’s why the ATAs subsequently introduced their own federation codes, as each ATA previously had their own federation codes.

“I actually wanted to help the government develop a unified code of conduct and supported that from the start,” he told the BBC.

“The reality is we took the government’s regulations and implemented the vast majority of them.”

However, he said he still supported the government’s introduction of a statutory code of conduct.

Isaac Occhipinti, head of external affairs at the British Parking Association (BPA), said the association would also support the development of a statutory code of conduct.

However, he said changes to the industry’s own code of conduct would bring about faster change.

He added: “We will actually be meeting with some MPs in a few weeks to discuss what potential changes we can make to the code of practice because I think that might be a quicker way to actually achieve change rather than waiting for government action guidelines.”

Excel Parking declined multiple interview requests from the BBC.

However, a representative said via email: “Excel Parking will comply with any changes to the Single Sector Code of Conduct for the Private Parking Industry.”

Excel Parking also continues to insist that 10 PCNs were sent to Miss Hudson, which is wrong – even though the parking company has stopped parking Court claim £1,906 against her.

The spokesman said: “Ms Hudson did not comply with the specific parking terms and conditions of the Copeland Street car park as she purchased parking well beyond the stated time frame.”

Luke Harrison, a lawyer who has helped more than 20 people fight PCN for free, is skeptical of the industry’s promise of change.

“The first step for every industry if they don’t want to be regulated is to form an industry association and develop a code of conduct that they all abide by, and then they go to the government and say, ‘We have a code of conduct, so you don’t need to investigate us,'” he said.

“It’s a classic tactic, it happens in financial services, it happens in all other industries, this voluntary code of conduct approach.”

Harrison said most cases were easy to defend, but added that for most people the expense of seeking legal advice was disproportionate.

The government is expected to announce plans for a parking code of practice soon.

A Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “Motorists must be protected when using private car parks and we are determined to raise industry standards.

“We know how big of an issue this is for drivers, which is why we will be setting out more details on how private parking operates as soon as possible.”