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MHCLG Statutory Code Consultation 2025 — Proportionality Leverage

MHCLG consulted on a new statutory Private Parking Code of Practice (under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019) from 11 July to 26 September 2025; no outcome or statutory code has been published yet (checked 14 July 2026). The consultation proposes MAINTAINING the existing £100 industry cap (while stating the government is open to other amounts) and questions whether the £70 debt recovery fee can be justified. The earlier statutory code (published February 2022, withdrawn June 2022) proposed tiered caps of £50 to £100 outside London for lesser breaches. For minor breaches, drivers can use the withdrawn code's £50 tier and the live statutory process as persuasive — not binding — evidence that a £100 demand is disproportionate. This is a leverage argument only: no statutory cap is in force.

Legal basis

Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 (enabling Act — no statutory code yet in force; the February 2022 code was withdrawn in June 2022); MHCLG Private Parking Code of Practice consultation, 11 July – 26 September 2025 (outcome awaited as of 14 July 2026; proposes keeping the £100 cap and questions the £70 debt fee). The operative cap is industry-only: BPA–IPC Single Code of Practice v1.1 para 8.2.1 (£100).

How to identify this in your case

PCN issued in 2025 or 2026 with a charge above £50.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear [Operator Name], Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] — Charge £[AMOUNT] The Government opened consultation on the statutory Private Parking Code of Practice on 11 July 2025 (closed 26 September 2025) under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019. The Government's stated proposal is a £50 cap on parking charges. While the statutory Code is finalised, charges above £50 face increasing legal and political doubt. I invite you to either (a) cancel this PCN, or (b) reduce it to £50 in line with the Government's proposed proportionality threshold. I rely on ParkingEye v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67. Yours faithfully, [Driver Name]

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Sources

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/private-parking-code-of-practice
Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019
Private Parking Code of Practice (Feb 2022, withdrawn June 2022) — persuasive only