Private Parking Under Pressure: Transparency Demands Mount Amid Soaring Ticket Appeals and Rising Fines

Published: 30th July 2025 | The English Chronicle Desk | The English Chronicle Online

Mounting pressure is being placed on the private parking industry in the UK as calls grow for greater transparency around how complaints and appeals are handled—particularly in the wake of a dramatic rise in the number of parking tickets issued to drivers across the country. The RAC, one of Britain’s most prominent motoring organisations, has urged private parking firms and their affiliated appeals bodies to “come clean” on how many driver appeals are actually upheld, arguing that improved disclosure is critical to restoring public confidence in what many perceive to be an increasingly punitive and opaque system.

The RAC’s concerns centre on the industry’s continued failure to provide clear, up-to-date data on driver appeals. In its latest analysis, the motoring body found that the two main adjudication bodies used by private parking operators—Parking on Private Land Appeals (Popla) and the Independent Appeals Service (IAS)—are offering the public only fragmentary insight into how they operate. Notably, Popla has yet to publish its annual report for the year ending September 2024, while the IAS’s report for 2024 does not reveal the number of appeals that were accepted or rejected. The last time such details were made public was in the 2021–2022 report, when a staggering 94 per cent of appeals were found in favour of the parking companies themselves.

This veil of secrecy comes as private parking firms have issued a record-breaking 14.4 million tickets in the 12 months leading up to March 2025—an increase of 13 per cent from the previous year’s total of 12.8 million. More alarmingly, this figure is more than double the 6.8 million tickets issued in the 2018–2019 period, highlighting the sheer scale at which private enforcement is growing. With each ticket carrying a potential penalty of up to £100, drivers across the UK may now be facing a collective daily bill approaching £3.9 million.

Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, voiced frustration at the lack of accountability within the sector. “The industry claims there isn’t an issue with tickets being issued unfairly as drivers can get them overturned when they appeal. But while stories of drivers being treated poorly are all too common, data on the true number of complaints and successful appeals isn’t available,” he said. “We believe the industry should have to publish this information. In the meantime, we urge them to come clean and publish all their complaints data voluntarily.”

Williams’s remarks resonate with growing discontent among UK drivers, many of whom have shared experiences of being penalised in what they perceive as unjust or overly rigid circumstances. The absence of transparent data fuels suspicion that the odds are heavily stacked against appellants, despite repeated assurances from industry stakeholders that the system is fair and proportionate.

In response to these mounting concerns, the UK government is currently consulting on a long-awaited, legislation-backed Code of Practice for the private parking sector—intended to establish enforceable standards of fairness, clarity, and consistency. Local growth minister Alex Norris recently acknowledged the issue in stark terms, stating, “Too many people are being unfairly penalised.” His comment reflects the government’s growing recognition that the private parking sector needs systemic reform, not just in terms of its enforcement methods but also in how it reports on its own internal processes.

The IAS, which handles appeals for tickets issued by members of the International Parking Community (IPC), responded to the RAC’s challenge by asserting its commitment to “improving the transparency and accountability of private land parking practices.” In a statement, the IPC called on the RAC to work collaboratively to find a constructive path forward. “It is worth reminding the public just how often they are able to park without any difficulty or disruption,” the IPC added. “That is the clearest sign that the sector is working, when parking is smooth, accessible, and uneventful.”

Popla, which deals with appeals against tickets issued by British Parking Association (BPA) members, has not yet responded publicly to the latest criticisms, further fuelling concerns over the delayed publication of its annual report and the lack of available data.

As public awareness grows and frustrations mount, the demand for accountability in the private parking sector is likely to intensify. At stake is not only the reputation of the firms involved but also the public’s trust in the fairness of private parking enforcement across the UK. The figures alone tell a compelling story—millions of tickets issued, millions of pounds extracted, but only a whisper of insight into how many appeals are resolved in drivers’ favour.

Without comprehensive and transparent reporting, questions will remain unanswered, and the industry will continue to face scrutiny. For now, the RAC’s call to “come clean” stands as a challenge to an industry that must decide whether it wants to maintain the status quo—or embrace meaningful reform in the interest of fairness and public confidence.