issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . march 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . march 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . january 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message british parking association type trade association not for profit organisation founded 1968 1968 headquarters stuart house 41 43 perrymount road haywards heath west sussex rh16 3bn area served united kingdom key people patrick troy chief executive 1 philip hammer president 1 revenue 3.344 million gbp 2015 1 net income 41 213 gbp 2015 1 number of employees unknown website http www.britishparking.co.uk the british parking association bpa is a british based trade association that represents the views and interests of its membership drawn principally from the parking and traffic management fields . more fully described as the british parking association limited the association is a company limited by guarantee and non profit organisation founded in 1968 although the limited company was not registered until 1970 . contents 1 association 2 safer parking scheme 3 private parking enforcement 4 keeper liability 5 parking on private land appeals popla 6 media interest 7 combined parking solutions 8 references 9 external links association edit the bpa s stated aim is to actively represent and promote the sector by advancing knowledge raising standards and professionalism and using its influence to deliver excellence for the benefit of all weasel words although the bpa is fully funded by its members rather than any independent source . 2 the association s headquarters are in haywards heath west sussex and it produces the monthly magazine parking news . although the association does not publish its membership lists it asserts that there are currently about 720 members citation needed which includes manufacturers and suppliers private car park operators local authorities health authorities airports the privately owned railway operating companies shopping centres bailiffs debt collectors and consultants . members whether from the private or public sectors pay a subscription based on their parking revenues . 3 there are five levels of individual membership each of which pay a fixed rate fee . 4 safer parking scheme edit the association manages the safer parking scheme 5 formerly the secured car parks award on behalf of the association of chief police officers acpo . the purpose of the scheme is to raise the standard of safety security design and operation of uk car parks . car parks that are found to meet the criteria set down by the scheme are awarded the park mark safer parking award . 6 the award is made after inspection by an accredited assessor and is subject to re assessment every 2 years . 7 park mark is considered a prestigious award 8 and may be granted to council or privately operated car parks . in 2014 the scheme celebrated its 10th anniversary since becoming the safer parking scheme . 9 private parking enforcement edit the association set up the approved operator scheme aos in 2007 in response to concerns about the management of car parking on private land an area of the parking profession in the united kingdom which was at that time unlegislated . members of the scheme are required to comply with the bpa s code of practice cop . 10 in august 2010 the coalition government announced their intention to ban clamping on private land . the next two years saw the development and subsequent royal assent of the protection of freedoms act 11 which bans all forms of immobilisation without lawful authority . the bpa welcomed the change as a move to marginalise rogue clampers but felt that the legislation took away a valuable form of enforcement for landowners to use in the protection of their land . in order to ensure that private enforcement remained with a robust solution the bpa s discussions with government resulted in a form of keeper liability being introduced with the protection of freedoms act 11 allowing the private operator in england and wales to pursue the registered keeper of a vehicle if a named driver can not be traced or denies liability . keeper liability edit keeper liability has been introduced by government on the proviso that the parking profession provides the motorist with an independent appeals service ias and that the service will be funded by the industry . popla parking on private land appeals launched on october 1 in england & wales only 12 northern ireland and scotland does not have keeper liability or popla . alongside the launch of the aos in 2007 dvla announced that any company organisation accessing vehicle keeper data via an electronic request process that is not a local authority or government organisation must be a member of an accredited trade association ata . a condition of an ata is that they have a code of practice 10 in place . the bpa has been working with dvla since their announcement achieving ata status and sharing all plans for the aos with dvla . in complying with the code operators that are members of the aos are able to demonstrate that their business operates to a set of standards and that it is recognised as an ostensibly professional and responsible member of the industry . however if non compliance to the code is proven it leads to sanctions being temporarily applied and could ultimately result in the member being suspended or expelled from the scheme . 13 there are principles in contract law when applied to private parking that the driver of a vehicle is invited by the parking operator and or the landowner to park in a car parking site and that the terms and conditions of the parking contract should be set out clearly and concisely through the placement of signs as you enter and around the site . these are clearly specified in the bpa s code of practice for parking on private land . 10 operators do not have legal power to issue fines or penalties as a result of people parking on private land as this is classed as misrepresentation of authority . 14 they are able to issue a parking charge notice pcn as specified in schedule 4 of the protection of freedoms act . 15 in parking at the site a driver may have accepted those terms and conditions provided they are clearly displayed and the driver has read and understood them as set out in the case of vine v london borough of waltham forest 2000 ewca civ 106 . in his judgment lord justice roche stated the act of clamping the wheel of another person s car even when that car is trespassing is an act of trespass to that other persons property unless it can be shown that the owner of the car has consented to or willingly assumed the risk of his car being clamped . to show that the car owner consented or willingly assumed the risk of his car being clamped it has to be established that the car owner was aware of the consequences of his parking his car so that it trespassed on the land of another . that will be done by establishing that the car owner saw and understood the significance of a warning notice or notices that cars in that place without permission were liable to be clamped . normally the presence of notices which are posted where they are bound to be seen for example at the entrance to a private car park which are of a type which the car driver would be bound to have read will lead to a finding that the car driver had knowledge of and appreciated the warning . in this case the recorder might have reached such a conclusion about the appellant s state of knowledge but he did not do so . the recorder made a clear finding of fact that the appellant did not see the sign . that finding is not surprising in view of the absence of any notice on the wall opposite the southern parking space and the appellant s distressed state the reason why the appellant parked and left her car hurriedly . it was the appellant s evidence that she did not see the sign . there was never any suggestion that the appellant was other than a truthful witness . lord justice roche 16 wheel clamping on private land was banned as of 1 october 2012 when the protection of freedoms bill was passed into law . 17 advice and guidance for motorists parking on private land can be found on various websites including the bpa 18 know your parking rights 19 and popla . 12 website forums such as pepipoo 20 and moneysavingexpert 21 also debate the issues . on 10 july 2012 martin cutts of the plain language commission made a speech at an event delivered by landor publishing 22 the enforcement summit 12 which was attended by some bpa executive members . i try to be fair but i ve reluctantly formed the opinion that the bpa lacks the standards of integrity normally required of a government accredited trade association . my main evidence for this is what the bpa told the government as it campaigned successfully to change the law on registered keeper liability . the bpa said 2 5 % of its members tickets were ending up in court a huge number that in real figures is 36 000 to 90 000 a year and that this would fall considerably freeing up the courts time if registered keeper liability came in . the government printed these figures twice as part of its evidence base in the official impact assessment on the new law swallowing the bpa argument whole . mps were convinced and the law was changed . but the bpa figures were false and it s hard to imagine that the bpa which claims to be the recognized authority on parking bpa masterplan 2012 13 did not know they were false . the answer to a freedom of information request has shown that in 2011 only 845 cases from bpa private members were registered in the court system and only 49 of them went before a judge for a final hearing . not 90 000 not 36 000 but 49 . a bpa spokesperson has tried to justify the phoney figures saying i think the bpa s data was based on anecdotal conversations with the industry and it s certainly true that these were a best estimate based on what operators are telling us . it all amounts to the fact that the bpa has conned the government and it has conned mps into changing the law . martin cutts 23 in a speech made at europe s largest parking event parkex 24 on 10 june 2014 25 parliamentary under secretary of state for transport robert goodwill 26 praised the private parking sector by saying that industry self regulation can succeed and that the establishment of popla providing motorists with independent and free appeals is testament to the high standards that are often promoted by parking professionals who are providing well designed fair and proportionate parking services . parking on private land appeals popla edit