Some FTA members are paying more than £1m a year each in parking fines to deliver in London, the association has told the House of Commons transport committee.
And it warned MPs that the high and sustained levels of parking fines on delivery vehicles in London were a sign of policy failure rather than successful enforcement.
“The very high levels of fines that continue to be incurred by operators attempting to deliver to premises, particularly in central London, show a failure by local authorities to adequately plan and provide for kerbside deliveries,” said James Hookham, managing director of policy & communications.
According to recent FTA surveys, Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) cost businesses millions of pounds a year with several FTA members individually paying more than £1 million a year in fines.
But, the association said, the cost of parking enforcement is not just restricted to the fines themselves – due to the high volumes of PCNs issued to some companies, many are now forced to employ dedicated staff purely to pay and appeal PCNs; while FTA has developed a service to assist its members with this administrative burden.
“The lack of adequate provision means that delivery vehicles have little choice but to stop on restricted routes to gain access to adjacent premises, and become ‘easy pickings’ for enforcement officers. The law needs to be clarified to distinguish between ‘parking’ and ‘delivery and servicing activity’.”
The FTA also pointed out that the operating cost for lorries to operate in the town centre is around a pound per minute, and that they are not there to park, but to perform essential economic tasks.
“Greater leadership by central government is needed to ensure a consistent and fair application of the parking policy framework which respects the difference between illegal parking and vital business deliveries,” finished Hookham.
