A bill, which has been sponsored by Cardiff West MP Kevin
Brennan, to clamp down on cowboy parking firms has received Royal Assent - the
final rubber stamp required before it becomes law.
Mr Brennan joined cross-party forces with Sir Greg Knight MP
and Pete Wishart MP (pictured with Kevin) after receiving a huge increase in
the number of constituents contacting him after becoming victims of such firms
in Cardiff.
The Bill will introduce a statutory code of practice which
private parking firms will have to abide by or they could be heavily fined or
even prevented from being able to access the DVLA database of driver’s details.
Speaking after the bill received Royal Assent, Mr Brennan
said:
“I’ve seen a huge increase in people either coming to my
surgeries or contacting my office after falling victims to cowboy parking firms
in Cardiff.
“The tricks some of these companies have used include
deliberately unclear signage, ticketing people whilst they are getting change
or fining people even though they were unable to park because the car park was
full.
“The anxiety and stress of receiving one of these penalty
notices is often exasperated by the contempt these companies show towards the
public when they completely ignore any appeals.
“In some cases I have written to complain to companies who
have then failed to reply. That is completely unacceptable.
“Until now the law was powerless to prevent these
disgraceful practices but this bill will now establish a code of practice and
an independent panel which will be able to issue tough fines or even ban
companies from accessing the DVLA database.
“I would say to private parking firms operating in Cardiff,
who commits these poor practices, to get your act together now, treat the
public with respect, or suffer the consequences.”