What are the key reasons for the changes in Parking Laws?
The three key reasons are legitimacy, transparency and fairness.
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Legitimacy - This means that enforcement is for the right reasons: street management; to reduce congestion and the potential for road casualties, and to manage the kerb space where there are competing demands. The new regulations make it clear that Local Authorities and other enforcement agencies should not use CPE as an income generator.
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Transparency - This means there is a need for Local Authorities and others to be open about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and the consequences of their actions. For example, all Local Authorities are required to produce an annual report including its parking policy, method of enforcement and publish statistics such as the number of penalty charge notices issued, the number cancelled, the income generated and details of how any surplus income has been used to benefit the local community.
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Fairness - The new regulations have introduced Differential Penalties and improved protection available for those on the ‘front line’ of parking enforcement – the Civil Enforcement Officer. This will be most welcome and should go a long way towards making parking management firmer but fairer. The motorist will benefit from having the Penalty Charge more closely aligned with the seriousness of the contravention.