Clamping on private land to be a crime, DNA records of innocent to be taken off database and councils banned from snooping
The Daily Mail has secured a stunning triple victory in its long-running campaigns against cowboy clampers, ‘Big Brother’ police DNA databases and town hall snoopers.It will become a criminal offence to clamp cars on private land, putting rogue firms out of business, under a ‘Freedoms Bill’ to be introduced in Parliament in the next few days.The move is expected to save the public £55million a year in fees from a racket that the AA branded ‘legalised mugging’.
An army of 1,800 clampers have been demanding an average of £112 each in release fees, with the racket often relying on drivers not spotting tiny or obscure warning signs about arbitrary parking restrictions.The Coalition’s Bill will also herald a double blow against the state’s ‘Big Brother’ powers.It signals an end to the practice of routinely and indefinitely keeping innocent suspects’ DNA on police databases, which currently occurs even when no charges are ever brought.And there will be a drastic scaling back of councils’ powers to enter homes or spy on residents suspected of trivial offences such as ‘bin crimes’.
A Coalition investigation revealed that the state had 1,200 powers to enter a citizen’s home, 400 of which were introduced by the last Labour government.
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Council snoopers shown the door in blitz on Big Brother state
How to appeal a parking ticket - and win (thisismoney.co.uk)
The Home Office estimates 500,000 drivers every year are clamped on private land.
An army of 1,800 clampers have been demanding an average of £112 each in release fees, with the racket often relying on drivers not spotting tiny or obscure warning signs about arbitrary parking restrictions.
In many cases, drivers have been marched to the cashpoint to pay on the spot, while others have experienced intimidation.
Wheel-clamping on private land will be made a criminal offence, in a stunning victory for the Daily Mail
Now, after a year of campaigning by the Mail, clamping on private land – typically land owned by individuals but also including, for example, train station and supermarket car parks – will be banned outright. Towing away will also be outlawed, with private landowners – who often share in clamping firms’ profits – restricted to erecting barriers to keep drivers out or charging regulated parking fees.
Under previous Home Office plans, clamping would have continued but with drivers getting an independent right of appeal. There would also have been a maximum limit on release charges. All clampers would have been forced to be registered and stick to a code of conduct.
But now, under an outright ban far tougher than even campaigners had hoped for, clampers will risk not only an unlimited fine but also a criminal record for life which they would have to declare when they apply for new jobs.The criminal offence will be punishable by an unlimited fine before the Crown Court for more serious cases, or up to £5,000 in magistrates court.
The crackdown on cowboy clampers will save the public £55million a year in fees to release their vehicle. An estimated 500,000 drivers every year are clamped on private land.Clampers who do not pay the fine could be sent to jail. Both the clamper and their boss could be liable.Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone said: ‘For too long motorists have fallen victim to extortion and abuse from rogue clamping companies. I have been outraged by cases of drivers being frog-marched to cash machines late at night or left stranded by rogue operators who have towed their vehicles away.’
Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone blasted the 'extortion and abuse' from rogue clamping companies
The ban will be introduced in Parliament in the Coalition’s flagship Protection of Freedoms Bill in the next few days.It is expected to become law by the end of the year and brings England and Wales into line with Scotland – where clamping on private land has been outlawed since 1992.
Clampers have complained to ministers that they have spent thousands on their equipment and want compensation for the loss of their livelihoods. However, they will not be offered any.In a tightening of the existing rules for private landowners operating parking charges, firms must belong to a recognised regulator. If they are ‘struck off’ for abuses, they may not lawfully issue parking tickets.
The ban will apply only on private land and will not affect clamping and towing by lawful authorities such as the police, local authorities or the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
Councils will continue to have the power to tow away cars abandoned on private land. Police can also remove vehicles causing an obstruction or which are dangerously parked.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘The Daily Mail has played a major part in ending a terrible abuse which we at the AA have also fought against for years.’
However, he warned that some clampers would try to fill their coffers before the legislation comes into force, telling drivers: ‘Watch where you park.’Steve Fowler, editor of What Car? magazine, said: ‘Motorists will be extremely pleased that the Daily Mail has spearheaded this initiative to curb the cowboy clampers.’
Snoopers shown the door in blitz on Big Brother state
DNA expansion: Tony Blair visiting the Forensic Science Service Headquarters in London when he was Prime Minister. New laws under Labour allowed police to keep samples indefinitely,Police will be banned from routinely storing the DNA of innocent people in a significant scaling back of state powers.
There will also be a dramatic curtailment of the 1,200 powers that currently allow authorities to enter an individual’s home.
The measures will join the crackdown on wheel-clampers in Friday’s Protection of Freedoms Bill – along with tighter regulation of CCTV cameras and council snooping. Under controversial laws introduced by Labour, police can indefinitely store the DNA of anybody arrested for a crime – regardless of whether they are ever charged.As a result, there are an astonishing 1.1million innocent citizens stored on the vast ‘Big Brother-style’ database.
The powers have been savaged by civil liberties groups and ruled unlawful by the European courts.
Now they will be torn up by the Coalition and replaced by tighter controls.
This is already the case in Scotland, where most DNA profiles must be destroyed if the individual is neither charged nor convicted, unless the suspect was arrested for a violent or sexual offence.
In those cases, the police can hold the DNA for three years.
On Friday, ministers will also say they have investigated the number of state powers of entry contained in primary and secondary legislation.They were astonished to discover 1,200 are in existence – more than 400 of which were created by Labour.
These include checking for fridges which do not have the correct eco-friendly energy rating; making sure a hedge is not too high; inspecting a property to ensure ‘illegal or unregulated hypnotism’ is not taking place; and checking for the ‘storage of bull’s semen’ on the premises. Many have never been used.
The Mail on November 12, 2009 and October 25, 2006
The Home Office will announce an immediate scrapping of some of the powers. Every government department will be told to review the powers it holds, and abolish those which cannot be justified.
There will also be tougher restrictions on town halls’ use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which is currently used indiscriminately by many councils to spy on people suspected of minor offences, such as breaches of school catchment area rules or failure to comply with complex regulations governing bins and household waste disposal.
In future, such snooping will be allowed only on those suspected of imprisonable offences, with a magistrate’s approval.
It will also be confirmed that Labour’s much-criticised Vetting and Barring Scheme will no longer go ahead.
The scheme would have forced an estimated nine million workers to undergo criminal record checks, despite critics claiming this was overly cautious in many cases.
Under the Coalition Bill’s proposals, only those in sensitive posts or who have intensive contact with children or vulnerable people will need to be cleared, which is expected to more than halve the number of people affected.
Criminal record checks will be sent directly to individuals to allow them to challenge suspected errors before they are seen by potential employers.
The Bill will also include a repeal of Labour’s power to hold terror suspects for 28 days without charge. Police will revert to having a 14-day limit.
Controversial anti-terrorism powers that allowed people to be stopped and searched without any reasonable suspicion will also be abolished.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘The Daily Mail has played a major part in ending a terrible abuse which we at the AA have also fought against for years.’
However, he warned that some clampers would try to fill their coffers before the legislation comes into force, telling drivers: ‘Watch where you park.’Steve Fowler, editor of What Car? magazine, said: ‘Motorists will be extremely pleased that the Daily Mail has spearheaded this initiative to curb the cowboy clampers.’
Snoopers shown the door in blitz on Big Brother state
DNA expansion: Tony Blair visiting the Forensic Science Service Headquarters in London when he was Prime Minister. New laws under Labour allowed police to keep samples indefinitely,Police will be banned from routinely storing the DNA of innocent people in a significant scaling back of state powers.
There will also be a dramatic curtailment of the 1,200 powers that currently allow authorities to enter an individual’s home.
The measures will join the crackdown on wheel-clampers in Friday’s Protection of Freedoms Bill – along with tighter regulation of CCTV cameras and council snooping. Under controversial laws introduced by Labour, police can indefinitely store the DNA of anybody arrested for a crime – regardless of whether they are ever charged.As a result, there are an astonishing 1.1million innocent citizens stored on the vast ‘Big Brother-style’ database.
The powers have been savaged by civil liberties groups and ruled unlawful by the European courts.
Now they will be torn up by the Coalition and replaced by tighter controls.
This is already the case in Scotland, where most DNA profiles must be destroyed if the individual is neither charged nor convicted, unless the suspect was arrested for a violent or sexual offence.
In those cases, the police can hold the DNA for three years.
On Friday, ministers will also say they have investigated the number of state powers of entry contained in primary and secondary legislation.They were astonished to discover 1,200 are in existence – more than 400 of which were created by Labour.
These include checking for fridges which do not have the correct eco-friendly energy rating; making sure a hedge is not too high; inspecting a property to ensure ‘illegal or unregulated hypnotism’ is not taking place; and checking for the ‘storage of bull’s semen’ on the premises. Many have never been used.
The Mail on November 12, 2009 and October 25, 2006
The Home Office will announce an immediate scrapping of some of the powers. Every government department will be told to review the powers it holds, and abolish those which cannot be justified.
There will also be tougher restrictions on town halls’ use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which is currently used indiscriminately by many councils to spy on people suspected of minor offences, such as breaches of school catchment area rules or failure to comply with complex regulations governing bins and household waste disposal.
In future, such snooping will be allowed only on those suspected of imprisonable offences, with a magistrate’s approval.
It will also be confirmed that Labour’s much-criticised Vetting and Barring Scheme will no longer go ahead.
The scheme would have forced an estimated nine million workers to undergo criminal record checks, despite critics claiming this was overly cautious in many cases.
Under the Coalition Bill’s proposals, only those in sensitive posts or who have intensive contact with children or vulnerable people will need to be cleared, which is expected to more than halve the number of people affected.
Criminal record checks will be sent directly to individuals to allow them to challenge suspected errors before they are seen by potential employers.
The Bill will also include a repeal of Labour’s power to hold terror suspects for 28 days without charge. Police will revert to having a 14-day limit.
Controversial anti-terrorism powers that allowed people to be stopped and searched without any reasonable suspicion will also be abolished.
