Protection of Freedoms Bill (Programme) (No. 3)

Intimidation is against the law. I would say to any motorist intimidated by a rogue ticketer that they should report it immediately to the police. Secondly, on signage, amendment 61 sets out a reserve power to prescribe requirements on the display, content and location of signs at car parks and other relevant land. I say a ““reserve power”” because parking providers will be able to access DVLA keeper data, and therefore benefit from the keeper liability provisions, only if they abide by the British Parking Association's code of practice on signage. We do not consider that regulation on signage will be necessary and we would want to introduce statutory rules on signage only if there was clear evidence that the BPA code was not living up to the job. I would be more than happy to read out to the hon. Lady the BPA code on signage, but it is quite long. Suffice it to say, it is big, clear and exactly what one would want in terms of proper parking signage. If that was not the case, we would keep an eye on the situation, but we do not want to introduce statutory rules about signage automatically because we believe that the BPA code will work. The third significant change introduced by these amendments is to extend the application of the keeper liability regime to circumstances where an obligation to pay a parking charge arises as a result of parking on land without permission, which is to say in the context of a trespass or other tort. This change will help to address the concerns expressed by tenant associations and others about their ability to tackle unauthorised parking in communal parking areas once the ban on wheel-clamping comes into force. We have also made it clear in relation to vehicle hire companies that liability for any parking charges during the period of hire will rest with the hirer of the vehicle once the vehicle hire company provides a copy of the relevant documentation to the creditor. Again that reflects the position for on-road parking contraventions. Finally, the amendments will allow for the use of CCTV or automatic number plate recognition technology, as well as the physical ticketing of vehicles, in order to manage parking on relevant land. Taken together, these amendments to schedule 4 will ensure that parking providers and other landowners will have an effective means of enforcing unpaid parking charges which are, at the same time, fair to the motorist and vehicle keepers. On the concerns expressed about rogue ticketers, the Government are fully committed to monitoring the effect of the ban on vehicle immobilisation and removal and the associated keeper liability provisions in schedule 4. I have cited the case of Scotland, where such things did not happen in anything like the way described by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North, but if there is evidence that we need to take further steps when the new arrangements are in place, we will do so. We recognise that some may attempt to extort money through rogue ticketing, but the evidence from Scotland is that that has not been a significant problem. Rogue ticketers, by definition, will not have access to the DVLA database, so will not be able to pursue the vehicle keeper. All they will be able to do is issue a ticket and hope the recipient pays up, which is quite a different level from the intimidation and extortion that exists through the bad practices of rogue wheel-clampers. Ticketers will not be able to possess the car and prevent the person from getting away from the place where the car was parked. That is a different level of intimidation and threat to that experienced by those targeted by wheel-clampers who were out to extort money unfairly. No longer will motorists have their cars held hostage, which was clearly the main reason why the unscrupulous clampers were able to levy excessive charges. We believe that the measures we are introducing in the Bill, together with existing consumer protection laws, are sufficient to deal with issues such as rogue ticketing, inadequate signage and excessive charges. Let me deal briefly with Government amendment 21 to clause 54, which responds to an issue raised by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North in Committee. The hon. Lady referred to the concerns expressed by the British Parking Association about the effect of subsection (3) of the clause. The provision is intended to permit the continued use of barriers as a legitimate means of parking control and enforcement once the ban on wheel-clamping comes into force. As I said many times in Committee, it is not our intention that the presence of a barrier should, in itself, confer lawful authority for the wheel-clamping of a vehicle. It is clear, however, that subsection (3) as drafted has been read as providing such authority. The Government amendment puts the matter beyond doubt. A landowner will not be committing the clause 54 offence in circumstances where a fixed barrier, present at the time when a vehicle was parked on the land in question, restricts the movement of the vehicle, but that does not mean that the landowner will be able to resort to wheel-clamping or towing away in those circumstances. I trust that the amendment makes the position crystal clear.