Nick Smith MP for Blaenau Gwent says the Government should do more to defend the motorist from predatory private parking operators. In August local authority parking charges were in the news as it was revealed that English councils' parking 'profits' had swelled to £635 million. The Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, called for unfair town hall parking rules to be reined in, but Ministers have been silent on the plight of the motorist subject to penalty charge notices (PCNs) by private car park operators.

Yet in the first quarter of 2013/14, requests to the DVLA* for drivers' details have reached a record high of 563,925 – a staggering 30.6 per cent increase on the previous quarter. So on previous trends we can predict an annual figure of over 2 million requests this year. (These requests are made so the private car park operator can issue a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) to the vehicle keeper for an alleged infringement of parking rules.)

As we know in 2012/13 the DVLA called time temporarily on car park operators, who blatantly breached the British Parking Association's Code of Practice. Five operators had their access to the DVLA database suspended for three months in October to December 2012. Without this suspension the number of requests for 2012/13 could have been much higher. These suspended operators are all members of the trade body, the British Parking Association (BPA). They are supposed to abide by the BPA's Code of Practice - and the BPA should have ensured they did. Yet it was left to the DVLA to suspend these companies. It shouldn't be the DVLA's job to police the parking industry. We need proper independent regulation which puts the consumer interest first.

Ministers tell me that there is now a new body operated independently, POPLA (established by the BPA and funded by the private parking industry) which will hear motorists' appeals if they think a private car park operator has issued a PCN they don't deserve. POPLA's annual report shows that of 4051 appeals received up until 31 March, 1969 had been decided and 54 per cent allowed. So while POPLA is welcome, more robust action is needed. In Parliament I've highlighted that one business model in the private sector gives the car park owner the income from the regular hourly parking charge: but the operators scoop the income from parking charge notices (PCNs) issued. So the more the motorist gets it wrong, the bigger the profit for the operator. The DVLA figures suggest that some private car park operators are deliberately aiming to trip up motorists - then their mistake is punished. They're issued with a hefty PCN.

The government has sat on its hands - but now I've learned that similar worries were raised in June at a meeting of the DVLA's Consumer Forum it was felt this model encourages predatory parking enforcement practices as it is incentivised by collection of parking charges. Without seeking to regulate business practices, DVLA was keen to explore what action might be taken to curb over-zealous parking enforcement practices and would work with relevant areas to consider the options. It's good news that the DVLA's Consumer Forum is considering the issue but what we need is the government to show more muscle and stand up for motorists.