MPs brand parking policy a mess

Daily Telegraph
22nd June 06

Parking policy and enforcement in Britain is "inconsistent and confused", a report from MPs said today.

It was "absurd" that some parking offenders are dealt with by police and others in neighbouring areas dealt with by local councils, the report from the House of Commons Transport Committee said.
"Our present parking system is, frankly, a mess", said Gwyneth Dunwoody, the committee's chairman.
She added that parking enforcement contracts with incentive regimes based on the number of tickets issued were "utterly misguided".
The report said lines and signage to indicate the parking rules were often unclear and that many drivers had difficulty understanding and complying with the law.
The committee said that decriminalised parking enforcement - where councils handle matters - must be extended throughout the country, but first the standards of enforcement must improve.
The committee added that it was astounded by the number of penalty charge notices which were issued but later cancelled.
In 2003, this amounted to 20% of the 7.1 million notices issued, a far too high a proportion which indicated that the system was malfunctioning, they said.
Also, there was too much variation in performance between local authorities.
For example, some councils contest just 6% of penalty charge notices which go to appeal, while others contest 56%.