Government bans use of CCTV 'spy cars' for on-street parking
23 Jun 2014 03:46 PM
Use of closed circuit
television spy cars on their own to enforce on-street parking made
illegal.
In a victory for drivers and
shoppers, the government will make it illegal to use closed circuit television
(CCTV) ‘spy cars’ alone to enforce on-street parking ending the
plague of parking tickets by post, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced today (21 June
2014).
The announcement is one of a
range of measures that will give hard working people and local shops a fairer
deal by reining-in over-zealous parking enforcement practices, which often
force people to shop in out-of-town centres or online.
The long-called for ban will now
become law through the Deregulation Bill, following a 3-month consultation. Tickets will have to be fixed to the windscreen
by parking wardens, making it illegal for councils to issue penalty charge
notices to drivers using just the CCTV spy cars that currently patrol
roads for on-street parking enforcement.
Parking officers will now carry
out all essential enforcement, limiting the use of CCTV to issue
tickets by post to critical routes such as schools, bus lanes, bus stops and
red routes where public transport must be kept moving for safety
reasons.
The other measures designed to
help local shops, support drivers and give communities a greater say on parking
policies include:
- trialling a 25% discount for
motorists who lose an appeal against a parking ticket at tribunal on the full
price of their parking ticket
- changing guidance so motorists
parking at an out-of-order meter are not fined if there are no alternative ways
to pay
- introducing a new right to allow
local residents and local firms to demand a review of parking in their area,
including charges and the use of yellow lines
- reforming operational parking
guidance so it is less heavy handed with motorists, prevents over-aggressive
action by bailiffs, positively supports local shops and clearly reinforces the
prohibition against parking being used to generate profit
- proposing a widening of the
powers of parking adjudicators. This could include, for example, measures to
protect drivers where adjudicators have repeatedly identified a problem at a
specific location, such as inadequate signage, and parking tickets have
repeatedly been issued - in such circumstances, potential measures could see
adjudicators allowed to direct an authority to stop issuing tickets or direct
the authority to change the signage, or indeed both
- updating guidance so the public
know when they can be awarded costs at tribunals
- increasing parking transparency
so councils are required to publish how income from parking charges is being
used, including a new statutory Transparency Code
- maintaining a freeze on parking
penalty charges for the remainder of this Parliament
Communities Secretary Eric
Pickles said:
CCTV spy cars can be seen
lurking on every street raking in cash for greedy councils and breaking the
rules that clearly state that fines should not be used to generate profit for
town halls.
Over-zealous parking enforcement
and unreasonable stealth fines by post undermine the high street, push up the
cost of living and cost local authorities more in the long
term.
Today the government is taking
urgently needed action to ban this clear abuse of CCTV, which should be
used to catch criminals, and not as a cash cow.
Transport Secretary Patrick
McLoughlin said:
These measures will deliver a
fairer deal for motorists, ensuring that parking enforcement is proportionate,
that school children are protected and buses can move freely, and that key
routes are kept clear.
Further
information
Local authority revenue from
parking in England rose from £608 million in 1997 to £1.3 billion
by 2010. Nine million parking fines are now issued every year by local
authorities in England. There has been a big increase in the use
of CCTV for on-street parking enforcement following legislation in
2004.
The government has already
scrapped previous Whitehall planning policy that encouraged councils to hike
car parking charges, and removed Whitehall restrictions which restricted the
provision of off-street parking spaces.
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