British Parking Association

The British Parking Association (BPA) , a nonprofit professional association founded in 1967, is the largest professional association in Europe representing organisations in the parking, traffic management and enforcement industry.^{[citation needed]} The group represents approximately 720 member organisations from technology manufacturers and car park operators, to local authorities and NHS Trusts. The BPA is an Accredited Trade Association of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), and has no legal powers to enforce anything.

History

The formal Constitution of the association was adopted at the 2nd Annual General Meeting of the early association on 18 February 1970. It was formally incorporated as a Limited Company on 15 May 1970.

The President for 2011/2012 is Paul Necus, who is Head of Specialist Services at Cambridge City Council.

Activities

Safer Parking Scheme

The association manages the Safer Parking Scheme on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to raise the standard of safety and security in car parking facilities. The Park Mark is a registered trade mark, given to car parks which meet the accreditation criteria.^[1],^[2].

It is awarded after an assessment by a Police Architectural Liaison Officer, and its status is subsequent to regular re-assessment. The award can be presented to council run car parks^[3], private car parks^[4], shopping malls^[5], train station car parks^[6] and bus based park and ride car parks <refWinchester Council Park and Ride press release</ref>.

Parking on private land

The association also set up the Approved Operator Scheme (AOS) in 2007 in response to concerns about the management of car parking on private land, an area of the parking industry in the United Kingdom which is currently unlegislated. Members of the scheme are required to comply with the BPA’s Code of Practice (CoP) which aims to ensure that those motorists who use private car parks are treated reasonably.

Around the same time that the AOS was launched, the United Kingdom’s Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA) were looking to appoint an Accredited Trade Association to act as a ‘gatekeeper’ to regulate access to their database of registered vehicle keepers. Previously access to the database was unfettered through the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, and concerns had been put to the Agency about the ability of ‘rogue operators’ to have free access to personal data held by the Agency. Now, only by ensuring that operators pass the stringent compliance audit on joining the scheme are they allowed access to the DVLA’s registered keeper database.

In complying with the Code, operators that are members of the AOS are able to demonstrate that their business operates to a set of standards and that it is recognised as a professional and responsible member of the industry. However if non compliance to the Code is proven, it will lead to sanctions being applied and could ultimately result in the member being suspended or expelled from the scheme, thereby severing that operator’s link with DVLA.

Whilst the private parking sector is not legislated at the moment, there are principles in law that it is governed by. Most private car parks will be governed by the UK’s Law of Contract, although some sites are governed by the Tort of Trespass. The principles of the Law of Contract when applied to private parking are that the driver of a vehicle is invited by the parking operator (and/or the landowner) to park in a car parking site. Terms and conditions of a parking contract are set out through the clear placement of signs on the site. In parking at the site, the driver is deemed to have implicitly accepted those terms and conditions, provided they are clearly displayed, so it is in the driver’s interests to read and understand those terms when they park there.

If any of the terms and conditions are broken, the operator may enforce by means of a parking ticket or a wheelclamp. Of course, in order to retrieve their vehicle, the motorist must pay the clamping charge immediately. However, if they do not pay a parking ticket promptly, the operator is allowed to apply to the DVLA to obtain the details of the keeper of the vehicle, provided they have been accredited (as mentioned above). At the present time, it is the driver who is potentially liable for any charge levied by a private parking operator, as they are the ones who have formed the original parking contract.

In requesting payment for the outstanding parking charge, the parking operator will also request the details of the driver, if the keeper was not driving the vehicle at the time. The registered keeper is not obligedto inform the private parking company who the driver was, and there is no statutory requirement for members of the public to enter into any correspondence or communication with a private parking company. However the British Parking Association has stated that they consider it to be reasonable behaviour for the keeper of the vehicle to disclose the details of the driver, in order to resolve the outstanding debt. The UK judicial system also prefers that parties act in a reasonable manner and resolve such disputes without resorting to a court hearing, and would not look favourably upon parties that were to withhold information if it were reasonably sought.

Parking Charge Notices

As mentioned before, parking on private land is covered by the Law of Contract. If the driver of a vehicle breaches the terms and conditions of a parking contract then the private parking operator is entitled to seek 'damages' for that breach. The important point here is that the damages must be fair and reasonable and reflect a ‘genuine pre-estimation of loss’ incurred by the operator.

This ‘genuine pre-estimation of loss’ is a reflection of the costs that the operator has incurred in the maintenance and execution of the parking contract that they have taken out with the landowner, and could include but not be limited to a portion of such items as:

• Wages of enforcement staff • Costs of patrol vehicles • Cost of signs and maintenance of such • Cost of administrative staff and processes

It is very important that private parking operators only levy a charge that is fair and reasonable because any excess charge that could not be evidenced as damages would be classed as a penalty charge which would make it unlawful and therefore unenforceable.

Private parking operators cannot issue Penalty Charges and should a company issue charges which amount to 'penalties' the BPA’s AOS Compliance Team will seek disciplinary action through means of their sanctions as mentioned above.

In order to enforce its sanctions scheme, the BPA uses intelligence from inside and outside of the industry, and so the BPA AOS welcomes and encourages complaints as these will help it to continue to raise standards in the parking industry.

Charter for Hospital Parking

1. In March 2010, the BPA published a Charter for Hospital Parking ^[7] in order to respond to the hotly debated topic of charging for parking in hospital car parks. The Charter supports reasonable charges introduced not to generate income, but to ensure that staff, bona-fide patients and visitors are able to park at the hospital, rather than the space being utilized by commuters.

Institute of Parking Professionals

The Institute of Parking Professionals (IPP) is an independent body representing individuals in the UK parking and traffic management sector which provides recognition of an individual’s experience in the sector and supports them in their Continuing Professional Development.

Parking News

Parking News is the official journal of the British Parking Association, published eleven times a year. It is specifically written to meet the information needs of the Association’s members and other key personnel working in the sector. Specific contents include technical and company news pages, as well as dedicated space for updates and news of the Safer Parking Scheme.

The Ernest Davies Award

In 1994, the BPA established the Ernest Davies Memorial Award for a paper presented at a seminar or published in Parking News. Davies was a founder member of the BPA who became President of the association in 1977, an office he held until he retired in 1980.

References

1. ^ Liverpool Daily Echo High risk city car parks highlighted, 15 May 2008
2. ^ Q Park page describing Park Mark
3. ^ Lancaster Council press release
4. ^ WY Police press release
5. ^ Braehead Shopping Centre press release
6. ^ National Express East Anglia press release
7. ^ Charter for Hospital Parking on the BPA website

External links

• BPA website
• IPP website