BPA Approved Operator Scheme Getting ready When Steve Clark, BPA director for operational services and business development, retired earlier this year, the BPA created two new roles to reflect the changes that the Parking Single Code of Practice will bring. Sara Fisher joined the BPA from Ballast Nedam Parking to become head of operational services and business development. Sara Roberts, previously BPA head of the Approved Operator Scheme (AOS), was employed for the pivotal role of head of Conformity Assessment Body transition, ahead of its launch. She explains more about her role he Parking Code of Practice Act will require that monitoring the compliance of private parking operators is carried out by an independent and impartial Conformity Assessment Body (CAB). Its a bit like not being able to mark your own homework: my team will break away from the BPA to become a separate legal entity, so its an opportunity to reimagine how the structures will work. The BPA will continue to give BPA approved operator members advice on how to be compliant, which will managed by the team headed by Sara Fisher, who will explain her role in the next issue of Parking News. Having previously worked for Britannia Parking, where compliance with the BPAs Approved Operator Code of Practice was always top of our agenda, I know some of the compliance issues that private operators face. I am also committed to raising standards in the sector: its what attracted me to working for the BPA when I joined in 2020. I have been closely involved with the Single Codes development so its exciting to be part of the final delivery piece. Theres still a way to go, and we are waiting on final decisions from government, but the last pieces of the puzzle are starting to slot into place. T Assessment. Demonstrating independence and impartiality is key and this will need to be addressed in all that we do, through our structure, systems, staff resources and conformity evaluation activities. Team work Sara and I are working together to ensure everything is in place to support BPA members, so this transition time has been invaluable. I love working with Sara; we bounce ideas off each other so it has been really beneficial. Eventually, of course, this relationship will change because I will be working for a separate organisation. But we share the same goal of supporting BPA approved operators and weve been able to help each other in preparing for the next stages too. Main focus Its a little bit chicken and egg, because until we get the final Single Code announcement from government, we cannot finalise the structures and processes. I have so many ideas and lists of what I want to do and it is about prioritising the top-line work that can be done now, without necessarily being able to drill down into the finer details. I have been concentrating on getting the foundations in place for when we do separate from the BPA and also supporting Sara and her team to ensure the BPA members are kept informed and can prepare for the changes. The main priority is ensuring that the legal structure of the CAB is established in line with ISO 17065 standards relating to Conformity More information To request a website log-in to the new Approved Operator Hub, which contains compliance-related information about the Single Code, email AOS-member-enquiries@britishparking.co.uk The next in the series of BPA webinars on the Parking Code of Practice will be on 3 November. These webinars are open to all. See britishparking.co.uk/webinars To contact Sara, email sara.r@britishparking.co.uk 41 PN Nov 2022 pp41 Sara Roberts.indd 41 26/10/2022 17:02