Ethics Policy
The purpose for this Ethics Policy is to
support a culture of openness, trust, and
integrity in all Northern Parking Services
(NPS) management and business practices. A
well-understood ethics policy requires the
participation and support of every person
associated with NPS.
This includes senior management,
employees, independent adjudicators,
clients, and our customers.
At Northern Parking Services we are
dedicated to working with all those
associated to our business in order to
improve the services that we provide. We are
committed to conducting all of our affairs
and activities with the highest standards of
ethical conduct. Our Code of Conduct,
outlined by the British Parking Association
(BPA), provides guidance for decisions and
actions during our daily work.
We
are committed to the responsible use of
assets, to provide accurate, complete and
objective information, to respect the
confidentiality of financial and other
information, to act in good faith and
exercise due care in all we do, to comply
with all rules and regulations and to
proactively promote ethical behaviour.
The Northern Parking Service’s Code of
Ethics is built on values. As such, we
acknowledge our individual responsibility to
ensure our collective success by practicing
and promoting the following values. These
values reflect a shared view of how we want
to operate within the Parking Industry, and
how we’d like to be seen by others.
Our
Values
Integrity
We
pursue our mission with honour, fairness and
respect for the individual, ever mindful
that there is no “right way” to do the
“wrong thing.” We uphold the values of the
BPA in every action and decision. We are
committed to act in good faith, to comply
with the rule of law and BPA policies and
regulations.
Inclusiveness
We
are dedicated to a single purpose, fuelled
by a diversity of thought and action. We
serve responsibly as members of all the
communities in which we live and work. Our
intent is for our employees to represent our
diverse population, so we can maximize the
relationship between our Clients and
Customers.
Dedication
At
the NPS we remain dedicated to our Clients
and Customers. We hold ourselves to the same
standards of excellence that make the NPS a
premier organisation within the Parking
Industry. We are committed to discovery and
continuous improvement in developing and
implementing our programs, products, and
services.
Excellence
We
believe that striving to be the best in our
work, our relationships, our ideas and our
services is the greatest demonstration of
our pledge to Customer satisfaction. We are
determined to do the best at what matters
most. Our success depends on our management
and employees ability to deliver the
consistent level of excellence expected by
all who rely on us.
Sensitivity
We
value our management, employees, clients,
and Customers and treat them with respect as
individuals. We operate in a climate
of openness and trust in which each of us
fully grants others respect and
co-operation.
Vision
In
an effort to support our mission, we are
willing to take on sensitive tasks. We
strive to be proactive, innovative and
creative in all we do.
Code
of Ethics
The summary code of ethics includes the
following provisions:
Northern Parking Services management,
employees and independent adjudicators must:
-
Be honest and ethical in their conduct,
including ethical handling of actual or
apparent conflicts of interest between
personal and professional relationships.
-
Comply with applicable government laws,
rules and regulations.
-
Maintain the confidentiality of
information entrusted to them by the
NPS, our Clients, and Customers except
when authorised or otherwise legally
obligated to disclose such information.
-
Deal
fairly with our Clients, Customers,
suppliers, competitors, adjudicators,
and employees.
-
Provide those required with information
that is accurate, completely objective,
relevant, timely, and understandable.
-
Proactively promote ethical behaviour as
a responsible partner among peers in the
work environment.
-
Protect and ensure the proper use of
company assets.
Our
People
NPS is committed to provide a work
environment that values diversity among its
management and employees. All human
resource policies and activities are
intended to create a respectful workplace
where every individual has the opportunity
to reach their highest potential.
Employees are provided opportunities
regardless of race, colour, religion,
gender, national origin, sexual orientation,
marital status, age, veteran status, or
disability. These policies apply to both
applicants and employees in all phases of
employment including, recruiting, hiring,
placement, training, development, transfer,
promotion, demotion, performance reviews,
compensation, benefits, and separation from
employment.
We
will evaluate how we are living up to our
code of ethics by requesting feedback on a
regular basis from our management,
employees, adjudicators, clients and
customers. We will provide all of our
stakeholders a mechanism to report unethical
conduct. We will begin with employee
orientation and regularly communicate all of
these expectations to our management team
and employees.
NPS’s management, employees, adjudicators
and clients are expected to report any
practices or actions believed to be
inappropriate directly to a director of NPS.
Our
Customers
We
are dedicated to 100% Client and Customer
satisfaction. We are devoted to
developing “Customer/Client enthusiasm” and
are passionate about exceeding all
expectations. We dedicate ourselves to
anticipating the changing needs of Clients
and Customers and aim to create timely,
innovative and superior programs, products,
and services so as to be able to meet those
needs.
Conflict of Interest
The underlying principle of “conflict of
interest” is that management, employees and
independent adjudicators should avoid any
activity, investment, or interest that might
reflect unfavourably on the reputation of
the Northern Parking Services.
As
representatives of the Northern Parking
Services, management, employees and
adjudicators are obligated to place the
interest of the NPS, in any transaction
involving the NPS, ahead of any personal
interest or personal gain, and to disclose
all facts in any situation where a potential
conflict of interest may arise.
Management, Employees and adjudicators are
expected to seek clarification of and
discuss any questions about potential
conflict of interest with their direct
superior or a director of the company.
Associations Property and Information
Employees, managers and adjudicators are
expected to protect and maintain
confidentiality regarding NPS’s property
including cash, equipment and records, which
hold employee, client and customer
information.
Reporting Ethics Violations
If you have questions or concerns about
compliance with the subjects described in
this policy, or are unsure about what is the
“right thing” to do, we strongly
encourage you to first talk first with
your direct superior. If you are
uncomfortable talking to any individuals for
any reason, then you can call the company
director on the internal phone system to
report your concerns. Reporting of ethics
violations will be treated as confidential
information and can be communicated
anonymously.
Ethics & The Law
The
Law of Trespass:
The law relating to parking on private land
without permission from the legal occupier
comes under the laws of trespass. Anyone who
enters and parks on privately owned land
without the permission of the legal occupier
will be trespassing on that given piece of
land for the duration they are there. If the
claimant can prove that a trespass has
occurred then he/she is entitled to recover
nominal damages, even if they have not
suffered any actual loss or damage.
If
the trespass has caused the claimant actual
loss or damage they are entitled to receive
an amount which will compensate for that
loss. If a claimant can prove that a
trespasser has entered and made use of the
claimants land without permission, the
claimant is lawfully entitled to receive a
reasonable level of compensation in the form
of damages for that use. A claim can also be
made where there is a breach of parking
regulations which are clearly stated on
contractual warning notices.
Contractual Law:
By parking and thus ignoring the warning
signs the offending motorist has entered
into a contractual agreement to pay a
penalty charge.
In order for NPS to make a claim for
a Parking Charge Fee the contractual warning
notices should meet the standard as
prescribed by both the BPA and the Driver
and Vehicle License Authority (DVLA). At NPS
we operate our collection procedures under
the Administration of justice act 1970.
BPA
and DVLA Code of Practice for Private
Parking Enforcement:
The company adheres to the BPA's and the
DVLA’s code of conduct to ensure lawful
ethical and fair business practice when
obtaining the offending vehicles keeper’s
registration details for the purpose of
enforcing parking penalties which remain
un-paid.
Data
Protection Act 1998:
Northern Parking Services is registered with
the Information Commissioners Office (ICO),
and we prescribe fully to the principles of
the Data Protection Act 1998.
After we have obtained the registered
keepers details from the DVLA we will not
disclose this information to any third
parties, unless required to do so by law.
We will not disclose the site holder’s
details to any offending motorists, unless
required to so by law.
ROAD
TAFFIC ACT 1991:
Northern Parking Services process PCN’s in
accordance with the Road Traffic Act 1991.
The Act sets out the procedures that must be
followed, from the issue of the PCN through
to recovery of the penalty
Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, the owner
of the vehicle is liable for any PCN issued
to it even though they may not have been the
driver on the occasion in question.
The owner is taken to be the registered
keeper as recorded at DVLA.
Appeals must be made within 14 days from the
issue date of the PCN. After 14 days the
driver of the vehicle has no legal right to
Appeal against a parking charge. However,
where there are mitigating circumstances
Northern Parking Services may be able to
exercise discretion and allow an appeal to
take place and/or cancel the PCN if there
are compelling grounds to do so.
Payments of the penalty charge must be made
within the 28 day period following the issue
date of the PCN. Payments received within 14
days from issue are reduced from £85.00 to
£60.00. If no response is received within 14
days from the PCN’s issue date then NPS will
apply to DVLA for the offending motorist’s
personal information.
Should parking fee still remain
unpaid we will send the offending motorist a
polite reminder for the parking charge.
If
the motorist still refuses to pay the
parking charge we will pass on the offending
vehicle registered keepers details to our
legal department and debt recovery agent to
commence recovery of the outstanding debt.
If the fee still remains unpaid then NPS
will attempt to recover the debt through the
courts.
If
an appeal is made against the PCN the
Company will give full consideration to the
points raised taking into account all the
circumstances that have been explained, and
decide whether the PCN should be cancelled.
Information (including photographs and
warden logs) taken by the Parking Attendant
or client at the time of issue of the
Penalty Charge Notice will also be taken
into account by the Company.
If for any reason any person can demonstrate
that the parking charge was incorrectly
issued to their vehicle then the parking
charge shall be cancelled.
This includes a vehicle issued with a
PCN, which later is found to be authorised
to park. I.e.
A vehicle issued with a PCN for parking in a
disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge
may have the PCN cancelled if a photocopy of
the Blue Badge is sent to us with an appeal.
If
the appeal is accepted, the vehicle owner
will be advised that the PCN has been
cancelled and that the penalty charge is not
payable. If appeal is rejected, the Company
will send a Notice of Rejection to the
appellant, which will explain why the PCN
cannot be cancelled. They will have 7 days
from the rejection date of the appeal to pay
the penalty at the discounted rate of
£60.00.
The
Issuing of Parking Charges
PCN’s are issued in accordance to the
Parking Restrictions as set by the Land
Owner or Representative (i.e. tenant), and
PCN’s will only be issued in accordance to
the ‘Codes of Practice’ and recommendations
as proposed by the DVLA and the BRITISH
PARKING ASSOCIATION
Parking Charge Cancellations
NPS, the land owner, and their
representatives reserve the right to cancel
a parking charge at any time,
free of charge without question. This
ensures that only genuine offenders (and not
customers etc) are penalised should a
parking charge be issued in error.
Parking Charge Pricing Structure
The
pricing of the parking charge notifications
is based on the Local Authorities pricing
structure, and coincides with the
recommendations as prescribed by governing
bodies such as the DVLA and the BPA.
Contact NPS
The contact company address of NPS is:
Northern Parking Services Ltd
PO Box 642
Wallsend
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE28 5AB