Minister consults SPARKS Programme on effective enforcementItem Added 10 September 2007Minister of State Rosie Winterton MP listens with interest to SPARKS views on traffic enforcement against FRVs
 New Minister of State Rosie Winterton MP has met with the SPARKS Programme to hear our views on the issues local authorities face enforcing parking and driving regulations against vehicles registered overseas.
Just ten weeks into her role, following the cabinet reshuffle, she invited SPARKS steering group chair Nick Lester, programme manager Bill Blakemore and member Patrick Troy, to meet herself and other Department for Transport civil servants.
Discussions focused on civil enforcement in practice in the UK and problems enforcing against foreign registered vehicles, as well as major growth in foreign vehicles entering the UK in recent years and their propensity to infringe driving and parking laws more frequently than British vehicles.
Weaknesses in the current enforcement approach, including inadequate data to identify non-UK offenders and problems registering debts in overseas courts, were also discussed.
“Rosie Winterton was very interested in what we had to say as it has a direct bearing on the planned expansion of congestion management schemes, one of the policy areas addressed in the forthcoming Local Transport Bill. She has demonstrated she is open to receiving input on a range of topics and has been active in consulting transport interest groups since her appointment,” said Bill Blakemore.
“We highlighted the things we feel the Department for Transport could do; better access to data via the DVLA, changes to county court rules so local authorities can register debts against non-residents and support for new European legislation supporting enforcement of penalties across borders.
“If the government chooses to follow our recommendations and build these into the draft Local Transport Bill, including powers for the DVLA to receive and share FRV data, the DVLA will become the UK hub of an EU network connecting local authorities with national licensing agencies.
“This is the only credible way of working. It would become unmanageable for each local authority to contact foreign licensing agencies direct and many overseas agencies would refuse to co-operate.” |
|
Facts & Figures- 330,000 penalty charge notices worth £12.9 million are issued to foreign-registered vehicles in London each year for parking and other contraventions
- 1 in 8 foreign registered vehicle owners fails to pay their congestion charge
- A third of persistent evaders (three or more PCN’s) are foreign-registered vehicles
 |
