Andy Burnham has announced a new set of rules to protect drivers from unfair parking charges – including 10 minutes to leave a car park after a parking session ends and five minutes to decide whether to park on arrival.
The Government’s new Private Parking Code of Practice, laid before Parliament on Tuesday, sets out when drivers can and cannot be charged in car parks run by private companies, such as those at supermarkets, retail parks and gyms.
The rules follow years of complaints from drivers about unfair private parking charges, and the number of tickets issued has soared.
The young people most likely to lose their benefits
Labour ministers are said to be considering removing the health element from universal credit for under-25s who are disabled or ill. Changes could also be made to PIP affecting this age group.
Who could see changes?
One proposal being discussed is removing the health element of universal credit for all under-25s and replacing it with an intensive “return-to-work” scheme.
Reports also suggest that some changes could be made to PIP that would apply to this demographic.
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Plan to cut PIP spending
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told MPs this summer that the PIP system was struggling with a rise in claims from people with anxiety, depression and neurodiversity.
McFadden said the PIP review by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms could see spending on the benefit reduced.
More than half of voters believe young people claiming disability benefits should be hit with sanctions if they turn down work opportunities, polling shared with The i Paper suggests.
James Merrell, a former PIP assessor, told The i Paper that he was worried about the way mental health conditions are “increasingly being described as mild or trivial – particularly by politicians”.
The idea of targeting young people in PIP and universal credit reforms was “extremely concerning”, said Merrell, a registered nurse and disability advocate.
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North-South divide among older people
People in the North of England are almost 50 per cent more likely to be out of work later in their working lives than their counterparts in the South, analysis by the Centre for Ageing Better found.
- Dr Andrea Barry, of the Centre for Ageing Better, called on Chancellor John Healey to provide employment support for people in their fifties and sixties who are “shut out of opportunity”.
Southport killer in court over alleged prison officer attack
Axel Rudakubana returned to court on Monday for allegedly throwing boiling water mixed with sugar at a prison officer.
What you need to know
Rudakubana, 20, is serving a life sentence for the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven.
He was also sentenced for the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July 2024.
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What is he accused of?
- On 8 May last year, it is alleged he threw hot water through a hatch on his cell door at Belmarsh prison in south London.
- He is charged with attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
- He is also charged with two counts of assaulting an emergency worker and possession of an offensive weapon in prison.
- Rudakubana also allegedly punched a male officer who had challenged him in October 2025.
Due to appear in court
Rudakubana was charged on Tuesday, 28 July and the case was sent to the Old Bailey.
He is due to appear by video link from custody at 2pm on Monday for a plea and trial preparation hearing before Judge Mark Lucraft KC.
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What we’ve heard so far in Russell Brand rape trial
The comedian attended Southwark Crown Court on Monday, a week on from the start of his trial on rape and sexual assault charges.
Brand denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
What we’ve heard so far
Last week, the prosecution argued that Brand is “ruthless” and a “sexual predator”.
The allegations, made by six female complainants, span a 10-year period between 1999 and 2009.
Brand, who denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault, insists that all his sexual encounters were consensual.
On Monday, the court heard from a woman who Brand allegedly groped with a “maniacal grin”, before allegedly dragging her into a toilet to rape her.
She said she was left feeling “numb” and “ashamed” after Brand allegedly groped her in the middle of a Soho bar and then forced her into oral sex in a flooded toilet cubicle.
Rehired at MTV
Anytime he was in the building, I just refused to go over, or to any parties… If I knew where he was, I would just avoid. I did see him in the distance a couple of times. He probably wouldn’t even recognise me, I’m just a face.
an alleged victim of russell brand speaking in court on Monday
Why up to 20 maternity units in England may close
Smaller maternity units delivering 1,500-2,000 babies a year are becoming less feasible because of a lack of obstetricians and a sharp rise in C-sections.
What you need to know
- Matthew Hopkins, acute care director at NHS Alliance, said the current system is “not fit for purpose”.
- As many as 20 of England’s 155 NHS maternity units could shut, he told .
- Some smaller units struggled to maintain safe staffing numbers.
- Units in rural and coastal areas are most at risk.
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Politicians urged to make change
Hopkins said: “Difficult decisions lie ahead, consolidating maternity services to support safer, more sustainable care.”
“If politicians … are keen to see safe maternity services in their area, it is going to need courage to grasp the nettle that needs to be grasped in order to improve maternity services,” he added.
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The other side of the argument
Hannah Leonard, the chief policy officer of the Royal College of Midwives, disagreed with the call to close smaller units.
“Women and families rely on local maternity units to be there when they need them, and we must ensure there are high-quality services close to home,” she said.
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Why Putin’s shadow fleet now poses greater danger to UK
“Spoofing” strategies are being deployed by Moscow for ships that frequently transit the Channel and Britain’s coast – some of which are known to carry weapons.
How are they doing this?
- New analysis suggests Russia is deepening its manipulation of the automatic identification system (AIS).
- Russia is equipping its vessels with technology which interferes with the AIS system to make it look like the same ship is in two places – often hundreds of miles apart – at the same time.
- New analysis by Ollie Ballinger from UCL showed at least a dozen “shadow fleet” vessels – all but one sailing under a Russian flag – have used a version of the technique in recent weeks.
What other spoofing techniques are being deployed?
The growth in another technique, known as an AIS “handshake”, was revealed by The i Paper last month.
A shadow fleet tanker sails close to another vessel and swaps AIS credentials. The tanker continues its journey while appearing to trackers as the fishing boat.
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What is the risk to the UK?
Any interference with the AIS system represents a significant navigation risk. In a report earlier this year, the Royal Institute of Navigation said such activity presents “a significant cyber security vulnerability and urgent risks to maritime safety”.
There are also fears that shadow tankers are being equipped with weapons or used as launch pads for surveillance drones.
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Private parking firms issued a record 16.9 million tickets in the year to the end of March – more than double the 6.8 million issued in 2018-19, according to analysis of Government data by the Press Association and the RAC Foundation.
What will change for drivers?
Drivers will be guaranteed five minutes after entering a car park to read the signs and decide whether to stay. A driver who pulls in, sees the prices and leaves within five minutes cannot be charged.
They will also have 10 minutes to drive away once their paid parking time runs out. A driver whose ticket expires at 3 pm, for example, cannot be charged for leaving at 3.08 pm.
Charges will be cancelled in full for honest mistakes, such as stopping briefly to check directions, and for problems outside a driver’s control, such as a medical emergency, a breakdown or a broken ticket machine.
For smaller slip-ups – forgetting to display a permit, typing in the wrong registration or forgetting to confirm it at the machine – the charge will be cut to a maximum of £20.
Setting out the changes, Burnham said: “Being a few minutes late back to your car or typing one digit of your numberplate wrong shouldn’t end with a hefty fine landing on your doormat.”
None of this happens automatically. A driver who receives a ticket they think is unfair will need to appeal and show evidence that one of the situations covered by the new rules applies to them.
Appeals go first to the parking company that issued the ticket. If the company rejects it, drivers can take their case to a new independent appeals service, where decision-makers will have no ties to the parking industry.
How will the new rules be enforced?
Many of these rules already exist. Since October 2024, most parking firms have followed a set of rules written by the industry’s two trade bodies, the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community, which firms must stick to as members.
Those rules already include a 10-minute grace period, a £100 cap on charges, clearer signs and rules on when appeals should succeed.
However, those rules are enforced by the trade bodies themselves. The Government has had no direct say over how they are set or what happens to a firm that breaks them.
That will change when the Government’s new parking code comes into force on 21 December.
Any firms found not to be following the rules will lose their access to the DVLA database, which holds the name and address of the registered owner of every vehicle.
Private parking firms rely on those records. When a camera or attendant logs a number plate, the firm requests the owner’s details from the DVLA so it can post them a ticket.
Without access to that data, the parking companies will not be able to send people fines.
What the new rules don’t change
This new code is not the Government’s first attempt. A law passed in 2019 required ministers to draw up official rules for private car parks, and the then-Conservative government published a first version in 2022.
That code would have cut the maximum charge from £100 to £50 and banned debt collection fees. But parking firms challenged it in the courts, and ministers withdrew it later that year.
The new code keeps the £100 limit.
Debt collection fees are also untouched. Drivers who do not pay on time can face an extra charge of up to £70, and the Government has promised to consult next year on whether to cut the limit or scrap the fees altogether.
The AA criticised the industry’s 2024 rules for failing to cap charges or remove debt recovery fees.
Responding to the new code, Jack Cousens, its head of roads policy, said it was “a good first step”, but added there was “still a huge amount of work to do, such as tackling the scourge of debt recovery fees”.