BPA News Updates and information from the BPA team Government responds to BPA on ANPR Catch up online All recent BPA webinars, including the three from last month on suicide prevention (see pages 40-41); the new Breathing Space regulations; and on tough conversations around furlough and insolvency, are available on the BPA website for you to listen to again. Go to britishparking.co.uk/Past-Webinars You can also keep up to date with the latest Covid-19 guidance affecting the industry at britishparking.co.uk Parkex: save the date The BPA is delighted to see the return of Parkex this year, to the NEC Birmingham from 15-17 June. It is hoped that this will take place as a face-to-face event, but there will also be a virtual offering for those unable to attend in person. More details will be available soon at parkex.co.uk If you have any queries, or to book an exhibition stand, contact Craig Donovan at c.donovan@hgluk.com March conferences Remember to register for our Parking Scotland and AOS Conferences, which take place online this month on 3-4 March and 17-18 March respectively. For more information, please see pages 26-29, or go to britishparking.co.uk/ Parking-Scotland-Conference or britishparking.co.uk/BPA-AOSConference Everything EV The BPA is pleased to be supporting the Everything EV Summit, which will take place during a fortnight of virtual content sharing from Tuesday 20 April. Find out more about the event at bit.ly/PNMar21EV The BPA has received a response to its letter to the Secretaries of State at the Department for Transport and the Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government, in which it asked what plans they have for enabling the use of cameras and remote-monitoring technologies, such as automatic number plate recognition, for enforcement by local authorities. Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps has replied to say, while he appreciated the potential benefits, there were no plans to increase the situations in which cameras can be used to issue on-street parking penalties by post. The scenarios where cameras may be used to issue penalties will remain: bus stops/ stands, bus lanes, red routes, school zig zags, and mandatory cycle lanes. The department will need to focus for the next several months on delivering the important traffic-management initiatives mentioned above. It is therefore not an appropriate time to consider extending camera enforcement powers for on-street parking. Kelvin Reynolds, BPA director of corporate and public affairs, said: We are disappointed by the ministers response, but we will continue to make the case for governments to fully enable the use of cameras and remote-monitoring technologies to help local authorities better manage parking. These are safer and support more cost-effective use of patrolling staff. They can also provide vital statistics to measure economic activity so important in a post-lockdown recovery. The BPAs Traffic Management Act (TMA) Steering Group met the Department for Transport to discuss the implementation plan for Part 6 of the TMA 2004, which will transfer the enforcement of moving traffic contraventions to local authorities. The government is committed to do this in 2021, and is basing the English versions of the enabling regulations and statutory guidance on those already in use in Wales, said Reynolds. The group had already contributed to the draft statutory guidance, in particular the use of warning notices. We are told that government wishes to ensure that local authorities are able to prepare in advance so that the transition can take place quickly once the regulations are in place. Add your voice A big thank you to those who contributed their views to the Public Accounts Committee Inquiry on low-emission car grants and the funding to expand the fast-charging network. The BPA would welcome your feedback on: The green paper on transforming public procurement. It outlines ways that public procurement processes intend to be sped up and simplified.* This forms Part of Brexit transition: new rules for 2021 . It closes on 10 March: bit.ly/PNFeb21Con2 The Consultation Paper 3 A regulatory framework for automated vehicles is the third and final Law Commission consultation on regulating the use of automated vehicles (AVs). It proposes that a forum is established to collaborate on the application of road rules to self-driving vehicles and asks who should be included and what the terms of reference could be. It closes on 18 March: bit.ly/PNFeb21Con3 To have your views included in the BPAs responses to these consultations please email consultations@britishparking.co.uk as soon as possible. All the consultations we are responding to now, and our responses to recent ones, are at bit.ly/PNMar21Cons *The BPA encourages members to respond to the public procurement consultation directly and make your views known to us to include in our response. 46 britishparking.co.uk PN Mar 2021 pp46 BPA News.indd 46 22/02/2021 14:41