Councils 'turning parking enforcement into money making exercise' » Local Government » 24dash.com

The AA accused the Government today of a "weak response" to a hard-hitting report by MPs criticising parking policy and enforcement.

The Government had "squandered the chance to help tackle a problem that has made tens of thousands of motorists' lives a misery", added the AA Motoring Trust, which has criticised some councils for parking policies that it claims amount to cash-raising exercises.

A House of Commons Transport Committee report, published in June, was highly critical of present parking arrangements.

In its response today to the committee's report, the Government said it largely shared the views of the committee.

The Government also pointed out that since the June report it had published proposals to improve the parking regime.

But the AA Motoring Trust was far from happy with the response today.

It said "bad councils" and their parking agents had in the past paid lip service to guidance, and even legislation in some cases.

A big stick in the shape of compensation or threat of intervention by the Department for Transport (DfT) were sanctions that should be used to stop parking authorities turning efficient and necessary enforcement into a cash-raising exercise.

Paul Watters, head of roads and transport policy for the AA Motoring Trust, added: "Who will take action when a council gets it badly wrong and regularly underperforms?  No-one. Once a council is granted the powers to carry out decriminalised parking enforcement, these will not be taken away, even for the worst councils."

He went on: "Motorists who win appeals against bad tickets usually gain nothing except having an unfair penalty demand quashed - despite having to spend considerable time, trouble and effort in protesting their innocence. Standard compensation payments should be awarded to motorists who are victims of illegal or unfair penalty demands which they win at appeal.

"If a traffic authority gets it wrong, the DfT can intervene and put a traffic director in charge of the roads until things are put right. But, with parking, some councils can continue to make innocent drivers' lives a misery in the knowledge that the authority will be left alone."

Copyright Press Association 2006.