AOS Conference Winning streak Fast-paced its how the third AOS Conference started and continued, all the way through to a brilliant keynote speech from Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell t was a packed room that I swept into at 9.58am. Having got on the train at 6.40am, I was slightly concerned at missing the pre-event caffeine fix, but I didnt need it. The morning passed in a blur of informationsharing, question-asking, speed typing (maybe that was just me) and, above all, total engagement from everyone in that room. You could almost see the pricked-up ears. After warm welcomes from BPA president John McArdle and gold event sponsor ZZPSs client services director, Colin McArthur, the BPAs head of business operations, Steve Clark, and Derek Millard-Smith, from BPA Lawline, explained the next steps in developing the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 (PCOP 2019). Their message was clear: this is our big chance to shape the code of practice, so we must all get involved especially as uncertainties still exist concerning the amount of the charge, the appeals process, and changes to signage. The government has committed to having the code in place by the end of the year. There is likely to be a stakeholder meeting later in the year that will include the BPA, the I The AOS conference content was bang on target and focused on exactly what we need to do as an industry to help shape the future of parking on private land. As the gold sponsor, it was a great opportunity to network and meet people Colin Arthur, client services director, ZZPS DVLA, and government ministers and the BPA is pushing for operators and landowners to be included. A public consultation will follow, with further stakeholder meetings in the autumn to resolve any issues raised. The need to be included in these discussions has never been more pressing, so delegates were urged to feed into the consultation, as well as support the BPA by providing evidence of the need for fair, effective parking management. It is the job of everyone in this room to engage with the consultation process, Clark said. The next eight months will be pivotal in how we push this forward. Millard-Smith agreed: There is a risk of parking chaos if ministers are not well-informed. So please engage both as organisations and individuals because, together, we can make a lot of difference. Gathering evidence The need for evidence was key when Alan Frost, from Mazars, took to the stage to present the findings of the recent AOS census. In all, 73 per cent of the operators invited to take part did so, providing data on how many parking charge notices (PCNs) theyd issued from July to December 2019, and why (see page 23 for more details). There will be another census in July, the results of which will feed into the work the BPA is doing on PCOP 2019. Its about gathering robust data so we can build robust evidence for lobbying, Frost said. Given the importance of what this data can do to support the BPAs efforts going forward and improve the accessibility of all operators, we hope the July response rate will be nearer 100 per cent. Julian OKelly, the BPAs head of technology, innovation and 20 britishparking.co.uk PN Apr20 pp20-22 AOS Review.indd 20 24/03/2020 14:12