Parking Enforcement Officers Want Steeper Fines
Parking enforcement officers have called for fines to be raised to £120, attracting significant criticism…
Steeper Parking Fines?
Parking enforcement operators in the UK want the maximum fine for parking offences to be raised to £120. For perspective, that’s the equivalent nearly two day’s pay for various key workers. The call principally comes from the British Parking Association (BPA), which represents traffic management companies in the country. As it stands, the maximum fine that can currently be issued is £100.
The request is, however, at odds with the government’s stated plans. It’s considering the possibility of reducing the maximum fine that can be issued to £50. If it’s paid within 14 days, it could also be reduced to £25. According to the BPA, this will fail to provide an adequate deterrent to parking offences.
Andrew Pester, the BPA’s chief executive, wants the government to prioritise deterrents. He said, “we are calling on the Government to reconsider its proposal to reduce the level of parking charge and to further engage with landowners and parking operators to ensure a sufficient deterrent, which is effective and improves compliance with parking rules”.
‘Baseless’
Nicholas Lyes, the RAC’s head of roads policy, has criticised the BPA’s reasoning as being ‘baseless’. He explained, “no driver ever tries to get a parking charge notice, so the idea a lower penalty cap will mean more fines being dished out is baseless. The majority simply want to park, abide by the rules, do their business and leave the car park without incident”.
He continued, “if drivers are flagrantly breaching terms and conditions, then it’s right they suffer the consequences but parking operators should always be following the standards set out. If a driver feels they’ve been treated unfairly then they should appeal, and ideally their case should reviewed by a single, independent appeals system which will hopefully be part of the new Parking Code of Practice due later this year”.
Recently, the PA News Agency discovered that 22,000 tickets were issued to drivers every day in the first six months of the financial year between 2021/22. Separate research from the RAC Foundation suggests that private firms are using two-thirds more tickets today than they were five years ago.
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