Wheel Clamping On Private Land In England And Wales

EDM number 1172 in 2006-07, proposed by Lynne Jones on 20/03/2007.

That this House notes that since May 2005 the Private Security Industry Act 2001 has required that individuals operating as vehicle clampers on private land in England and Wales be licensed by the Security Industries Authority (SIA); regrets that the conditions attached to an SIA licence, namely that each receipt issued by a licensed clamper must carry the clamper's name, signature, licence number, date and location of clamping, are inadequate in protecting the public from misconduct by unscrupulous operators and that many clampers fail to comply even with these demands; further notes that the SIA has no power to regulate any other aspect of vehicle clamping operations on private land, such as the size and positioning of signage, clampers' means of identification, the size of release fees, procedures for challenging clamping or removal operations, complaints and appeals procedures, and public liability insurance, and that consequently there are numerous instances of motorists falling victim to aggressive and predatory tactics used by vehicle clampers even when licensed by the SIA, such as the use of `decoy' vehicles to encourage parking, the immediate clamping of vehicles with out-of-time paid for parking, insisting on the payment of release fees in cash only and intimidating behaviour towards vulnerable individuals; and calls upon the Government to enact legislation to bring the situation in England and Wales into line with that prevailing in Scotland, where vehicle clamping on private land is illegal, having been deemed in a court ruling to constitute extortion and theft.

This motion has been signed by a total of 46 MPs.