National news Round-up of stories affecting the profession across the UK Government urged to reform The UK faces an under-resourced and congested future unless the government acts urgently to reform motoring taxation, MPs on the Transport Committee have warned. In a new report, Road pricing, the Committee says it has not seen a viable alternative to a road-charging system based on technology that measures The ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 will result in a sources of Treasury revenue. As sales of electric vehicles (EVs) increase, Treasury revenue from motoring taxation will decrease, because neither fuel duty nor vehicle excise duty are currently levied on EVs. Without reform, policies to deliver net-zero emissions by 2050 will result in zero revenue for the government from motoring taxation a potential loss of 35bn to the Exchequer. Chair of the Transport Committee Huw Merriman MP said: Innovative technology could deliver a national road-pricing scheme that prices up a journey based on the amount of road, and type of vehicle, used. Just like our current motoring taxes, but by using prices at less congested times and have technology compare these directly with choice, we can deliver for the driver and for the environment. You can read the report at bit.ly/PNMar22RT Pavement Parking At the time Parking News went to press, the latest information from government is the response to the Pavement Parking consultation is due to be published imminently. Keep an eye on bit.ly/PNMar22MT Concerns over Parking Code proposals The BPA is deeply concerned by the unintended consequences for motorists, landowners and the parking sector following the proposals put forward by the UK government for the Parking Code of Practice. The draft code laid before parliament on 7 February included a proposals to: Drastically reduce the level of the parking charge, in many instances from 100 to 50 (reduced to 25 for early payment) Remove the debt-recovery fee, which is currently capped at 70 Our evidence demonstrates the need for an effective deterrent to encourage compliance with private parking rules and deter antisocial parking, said BPA chief executive Andrew Pester. Importantly, motorists who do comply with parking rules will find it more difficult to park, will see free parking reduced and will have to pay higher tariffs. We call on government to urgently reconsider its proposals as the latest research shows that they will negatively impact the British economy and risk thousands of jobs. The BPA welcomes the measures to introduce a single code, a standards-setting body and an independent appeals service. However, for this package of measures to be sustainable, there needs to be an effective deterrent to encourage compliance with parking rules, which are there for everyones benefit, said Pester. The BPA will continue to work with officials and lobby MPs as they consider the new code, as part of a Code Implementation group. The group will meet regularly to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible while the terms of reference for the Scrutiny and Oversight Board are agreed. This remains an uncertain and challenging period for our sector, but we will continue to keep you updated as we gather further intelligence to inform next steps, said Pester. Parliament has 40 days from 7 February to choose whether to approve the draft code. The draft Private Parking Code can be read at bit.ly/PNMar22Code Further coverage of the code can be found on pages 3, 18-21 and 47-48. If you have any immediate questions or points for clarification, please contact Steve Clark at steve.c@britishparking.co.uk and/or Andrew Pester at andrew.p@ britishparking.co.uk 8 britishparking.co.uk PN March 2022 pp08-09 News.indd 8 22/02/2022 14:28