Private Parking: Report exposes their dubious practices

[Michael Browne]

Written by Martin Cutts, of the Plain Language Commission, who was recently featured on BBC Watchdog when he won a court case against Excel, with additional research by Nev Metson:

 

Parking firms whose income depends on unclear signs and payment demands are being supported by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) through a little-known agreement with the British Parking Association (BPA).

 

It’s led to about four million drivers being pursued for charges that many of them mistakenly think are real parking fines. In the current year alone, BPA-member firms are chasing drivers

for these phoney (ie, not official) fines worth £160million using names and addresses they’ve got from the DVLA, a government agency that’s making £5million from the deal.

 

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/pl...y2012AsPub.pdf

 

 

 

Also a speech given by Martin Cutts at the Parking Review Enforcement Summit 2012.

 

There were a number of guest speakers, including Patrick Troy of the BPA, the new BPA Head with her "Masterplan", and representatives from APCOA, Parking Eye and other PPCs.

 

He was asked to provide an advance copy of the speech, but refused. After he spoke and sat down, you could have heard a pin drop, apparently.

 

This is the speech: http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/pl...ly2012copy.pdf

[68904]

I have just spent a good hour reading the links in the above post.

The Author of this report must have spent many hours writing it.

I would like to compliment the author in a job well done.

[Nev Met]

I have just spent a good hour reading the links in the above post.

The Author of this report must have spent many hours writing it.

I would like to compliment the author in a job well done.

 

You can thanks Martin personally here http://www.clearest.co.uk/pages/contact

I know that he would appreciate any positive feedback and support

[Michael Browne]

Posted by Martin Cutts on MSE:

Thanks for all the favourable comments about my talk to the parking conference. It's great that so many people have copied the speech to their MPs. We now need a big break like a prominent media story or some parliamentary exposure. The BPA needs to be sanctioned for the way it appears to have misled the Government when campaigning (successfully) to get the law changed on registered keeper liability.

 

Can I just correct one thing: I didn't 'refuse' to provide conference organizers with a copy of the speech in advance. I provided an outline of some of its points but the speech was still being written on the morning of the event. It's good that the conference organizers, Landor Links, invited me to talk and that its Parking Review magazine was prepared to print an article critical of the industry in the May issue, albeit followed by 2.5 pages of excuses from the BPA, DVLA and Excel Parking Services Ltd. The BPA's own magazine, Parking News, had previously asked me for an article but refused to print what I sent them.

[Nev Met]

Honest John, the D.Tel Motoring Journo, has also picked it up and ran the speech in full on his website here:

 

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/legal--motoring-advice/2012-07/speech-exposes-illegalities-in-private-parking-enforcement/

[tomtubby]

Excellent article which seems to ouline some very serious issues as to what information had been given to Parliament.