ACFO is holding a parking and motoring fines seminar with a host of expert speakers drawn from key organisations.
Issues to be tackled will include: liabilities facing employees and employers when police issue a Fixed Penalty Notice or a local authority issues a Penalty Charge Notice; the fine and appeal process relating to parking in public car parks and on private land; and HR issues impacting on employers and employees when fines are levied.
The all-day ACFO members-only seminar entitled ‘Another Fine Mess?’ starting at 10am, will be held on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the Henry Ford College in Loughborough.
More than 50 ACFO members have already pre-registered for the event, which is being sponsored by Ford.
ACFO director John Pryor, who has been instrumental in arranging the seminar, said: “The issues around both Fixed Penalty Notices and Penalty Charge Notices are confusing. It is proving to be a legal, financial and HR minefield for the unwary.
“ACFO members have highlighted examples where paperwork has been delayed or errors made following the issuing of a Fixed Penalty or Penalty Charge Notice and that has resulted in an escalation of the matter prompting major concerns.
“In many cases time is of the essence and delays in taking action can make matters worse.
"We are aware, for example, of an instance where a driver of a company vehicle was arrested after failing to respond to a notice of intended prosecution.
“Legal action always provokes worries. Our expert speakers will deliver to members the complete low down on the issues and what actions to take both in terms of paying or appealing any Fixed Penalty or Penalty Charge Notice and if a driver receive a notice of intended prosecution.
“Fines relating to parking and motoring offences must be taken seriously and our seminar will be an education master class for our members.”
The speaker line-up includes:
• Robert Toft, head of data sharing at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, who will highlight driver and vehicle information provided to organisations including to the police, local authorities and private parking companies
• Philip Somarakis, partner and specialist road traffic and regulatory lawyer at Davenport Lyons and ACFO company secretary, who will provide an overview on Fixed Penalty Notices issued by police in relation to traffic offence and required actions by drivers and employers
• Spencer Palmer, director of transport and mobility, London Councils, which represents the 33 London local authorities, who will provide an overview of parking regulations in public car parks
• Caroline Sheppard, chief adjudicator, Traffic Penalty Tribunal for England and Wales, which decides appeals against parking, bus lane and moving traffic penalties issued by civil enforcement authorities in England (outside London) and Wales, who will explain the parking appeal process and when drivers should and shouldn’t appeal when receiving a Penalty Charge Notice
• Kelvin Reynolds, director of policy, British Parking Association, which represents car park operators, who will highlight the organisation’s code of practice and key issues faced by operators and users of local authority car parks and car parks on private land
• Mike Greenslade, barrister and lead adjudicator, the Parking on Private Land Appeals scheme, who will provide an overview of the appeals process if parking on private land
• Amanda Brandon, legal and policy executive, British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, who will deliver an overview of how vehicle leasing operators manage all types of fines relating to both parking and motoring offences and the reason for administration fees being levied
• Rebecca Lynch, partner in law firm Davenport Lyons, who will provide an HR overview on what information a company should disclose about employees facing a fine and the writing of employment contracts to enable fines levied to be repaid by staff.
Following each session - criminal liability, local authority parking enforcement, private land parking enforcement and leasing companies and HR issues - there will be a delegate question and answer opportunity chaired by Stephen Briers, editor of industry publication Fleet News.
ACFO members can book their seminar place by emailing the ACFO Membership Services’ Organisation at info@acfo.org or go to www.acfo.org. Non-ACFO members wishing to attend the seminar can do so by joining the organisation before June 3.
Patriot - 01/04/2014 12:29
Sloppy journalism FN and equally sloppy seminar title. 'Fines' and 'Penalties' are protected terms used by the Police and LA's. PPC's issue invoices disguised as tickets having legal authority ie: 'Parking Charge Notice', notice the similarity to a LA PCN? Kevin Reynolds needs to explain why the BPA (owned and run by PPC's) lets its members ignore their own CoP, for example; telling motorists they must provide the name of the and tbefore an appeal is considered and the invoice charge will increase if a motorist appeals to POPLA. Both of these statements are against the BPA's CoP but scammers such as VCS/Excel do this on a daily basis while Kevin Reynolds and his crew do nothing about issuing sanction points they proclaim will be given to PPC's who regularly and blatantly ignore the CoP. Fleet Managers also need to learn to distinguish between a genuine parking fine and the toilet paper given out by PPC's. If they do not know the difference then they are complicit in dishonesty. BTW, don't expect Robert Toft to be able to defend why the DVLA is happy to rake in £10 million every year from PPC's requesting RK details at £2.50 per request. DVLA does NOT always ensure such requests are from AOS members, they have been known to give RK details to PPC's who have been struck off or are in the process of folding.