FEATURE AOS UPDATE
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UNDER THE NEW SANCTIONS SCHEME, PARKING OPERATORS BREAKING THE RULES COULD FACE EXPULSION UNDER A BPA POINTS-BASED SYSTEM. BILL BLAKEMORE LOOKS AT THE NEW SCHEME AND ANALYSES WHAT OPERATORS NEED TO DO TO GET AND STAY ‘LEGAL’
veryone who works in the industry knows that off-street parking companies have come in for a lot of criticism in recent months. Te House of Commons debate about off-street parking in June last year
was a notable example: Labour MP Anne McGuire told the House: ‘Te behaviour and attitudes of a significant minority of private parking firms are at best questionable; at worst, they are rude, aggressive, manipulative and potentially threatening.’ Conjuring up a picture of operators hunting
for their prey, she described some parking staff as being ‘ready to pounce as soon as someone comes out of their car’ and of companies making ‘rude, patronising and threatening calls’ to collect parking charges. Ms McGuire said she was describing, although she did not name, a member of the BPA’s Approved Operator Scheme. With criticisms like this, along with a catalogue
of other comments in the press, on high-profile websites such as
MoneySavingExpert.com and elsewhere, the BPA and government have been forced to state their case.
The BPA and government have responded
Te publication of a revised Code of Practice in November was big step forward, and the recent launch of a scheme of sanctions for non-compliance – which came into effect at the beginning of April 2010 – is the next step. Te DVLA has also tightened up its approach by extending its rules. Anyone who wants access to vehicle keeper data
20 APRIL 2010
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on a commercial basis (not just those who want it electronically) must now be a member of an Accredited Trade Association (ATA). Tere is only one ATA in parking – the BPA – giving it more clout over the off-street parking sector. In addition, the Crime and Security Bill (if passed) will introduce new regulations for companies and individuals involved in vehicle clamping.
How does the new points scheme for the Approved Operator Code work?
Te BPA has highlighted thirty-seven different examples of ‘bad behaviour’, categorised into one of five levels, and each level attracts a different number of points. Level 1 contraventions are mainly administrative, such as failing to pay membership fees on time, and receive one point. Further up the scale at Level 5, up to 10 points can be given and immediate remedial action will be required. If an operator receives 12 points it will automatically be fast-tracked to the BPA Council for a disciplinary hearing, which could result in expulsion from the AOS. Te points are deemed to be spent after 12
months and operators will be given the opportunity to take timely remedial action to remedy the contravention. Some breaches are clear-cut, such as a failure
to ensure that all the vehicles are liveried. Tis is treated as a level 2 code contravention: paragraph eight of the Code of Practice is explicit in requiring operators to mark up clearly with their livery or their business name any vehicles used to undertake enforcement activity, subject to the exception that allows staff to remove it in circumstances where there is a serious risk of personal injury to them from having the identification in place.
What should operators do?
Learn: Learn the new rules. Read the Code of practice; find out what is in the new points-based compliance regime. Keep up to date with legal change.
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Implement: Take action to fix the problems that have been highlighted in previous steps. Change the signage, revise standard letters, and change procedures.
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www.britishparking.co.uk
Analyse: How do the new rules apply to our business? Where are we at most risk of breaking the Code of Practice or the law? Are there any new areas of our business that we have not checked for compliance?
Plan: What action do we need to take, by when, to make sure we fix any problems? For example, are our signs, our notices and our website saying the things they should be saying?
The four-step solution
Operators need to put in place a four-step approach in order to ensure they are meeting the increasingly complex new rules.
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