Parliamentary Reports
| Clampdown on clampers |
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| Friday, 03 July 2009 09:04 |
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Clampdown on clampers A gaping loophole which allows rogue car park operators to get motorists’ personal details from the DVLA is about to be closed. And about time too. I told the Commons many of these outfits were run by shady operators and crooks. I didn’t mince my words. One of my biggest mailbags last year concerned the activities of Effective Car Park Management who had been brought in to manage the Bizspace car park in Nelson and others. Local residents were angry and infuriated, and some felt intimidated, after receiving multiple tickets for the same brief stay. Others were being threatened with having their cars clamped at home. Businesses were up in arms. Lawyers and the police were being called in - closely followed by BBC national radio. I raised the issue in the Commons and finally we succeeded in getting the car park owners to give this unscrupulous company the boot. Ever since then I have been pressing the Department of Transport to tighten up on the way it allows access to driver records held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). This information is only available electronically for members of the British Parking Association, who are governed by a Code of Practice. But up to now non-members have been able to access records by means of a paper applications and the payment of a small fee. The system has clearly been open to abuse. Now the Transport Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, tells me the DVLA wants all car parking companies applying for information about motorists to be members of a DVLA Accredited Trade Association. |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 03 July 2009 15:01 ) |
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