What Has Happened:
From 31st March 2008 Barrow Borough Council acting
on behalf of Cumbria County Council, the Highway Authority, will be
responsible for the on and off street parking enforcement under the
Traffic Management Act 2004 for Civil Parking Enforcement.
This replaces the Road Traffic Act 1991 under which
the Borough has enforced since September 2001. The
Council employ Civil Enforcement Officers (parking) to
enforce all yellow lines and other parking restrictions throughout
the Borough which covers Barrow, Dalton, Lindal and Askam.
This includes all off-street car parks managed by the Borough
Council. There are two main differences that affect motorists under
the Traffic management Act. Most Penalty Charge Notices will
reduce. There will be two different levels of Penalty Charge
Notices (differential charging), for example a vehicle parked on a
yellow line restriction will be issued a PCN at the higher rate of
£70 (£35 if paid within 14 days) whilst a vehicle parked over time
is not deemed to be as serious a contravention and would therefore
be issued with a PCN at the lower ate of £50 (£25 if paid within 14
days).
Secondly under the Road Traffic Act, the Notice is only deemed
served when it is either fixed to the vehicle or handed to the
motorist. Under the Traffic management Act, A Notice can be
issued through the post if the motorist drives away or the Civil
Enforcement Officer is prevented from placing the PCN on the
vehicle.
The Police will continue to enforce clearways on specific
lengths of the A590 Trunk Road, through the Borough and deal with
obstructions on the highway.
Streets and car parks are patrolled
by Civil Enforcement Officers employed by the Local
Authority. When they find a car that is parked in
contravention of the regulations, they will issue a Penalty Charge
Notice from their hand held computers.
And Why:
On-street parking has historically been provided by the local
highway authority and enforced by traffic wardens operating under
the Police. This includes all limited waiting parking places,
all single and double yellow line waiting restrictions and other
areas such as loading and disabled parking bays.
In April 2000 Cumbria Constabulary removed all traffic wardens
in the County.
Changes in the law brought about by the Road Traffic Act 1991
provides for the decriminalisation of most non-endorsable on-street
parking offences. This also includes Bus Lane Contraventions
from 1st June 2001.
Penalty Charge Notices (PCN's)
Motorists are required to abide by the parking restrictions, which
are shown by the signs and lines on the street. The Council
appointed Civil Enforcement Officers will issue all
offending vehicles with a parking ticket called a Penalty Charge
Notice (PCN). This also includes off-street car parks
operated by the Borough Council. The liability for paying the
parking penalty lies with the registered owner of the car, except
for hire cars when it is the hirer under a hire agreement.
You will be liable to get a PCN if you ignore the
following:
- Double Yellow Lines - no parking at any time.
- Single Yellow Lines - no parking during hours indicated on the
plate.
- Loading ban - yellow lines with kerb markings. No
disabled badge parking permitted
- Disc Zones - no parking unless parking disc displayed in
vehicle. No parking for longer than hours indicated on time
plate.
- Car Park Pay and Display Machines - no parking unless
appropriate fee paid as indicated on each machine.
- Residents' Parking Schemes - no parking without displaying a
valid permit or disc.
- Disabled Parking Bays - no parking at any time except where a
valid Disabled Badge is displayed in a vehicle.
- Loading Bays - no parking during hours indicated on time plate,
except goods vehicles while actively loading or unloading.
- School Keep Clear - no stopping on school keep clear zigzag
markings.
- Restricted Zone - the restriction is for a zone and not a
specific part of a street. There will be a sign at the
entrance of the zone advising motorists they cannot park anywhere
within the zone. There is no requirement of yellow lines
within a zone.
These are only the most common forms of illegal parking and do
not cover all situations in which you would be issued a PCN.
What Happens if you receive a PCN?
- Initially a PCN will cost either £70 or £50 depending on the
contravention (see individual PCNs). Motorists who pay this
within 14 days will receive 50% discount.
- If payment is not received within 14 days, the owner of the
vehicle will be sent a statutory notice known as a Notice to Owner
(NTO), which would allow them to pay the full £70/£50 or
appeal.
- If payment or representations are still not made within 28 days
of the NTO the Council will issue a Charge Certificate, the cost of
the original penalty will increase by 50%.
- If the Charge Certificate is not paid the case will be
registered as a civil debt at the County Court and this
registration process increases the cost of the penalty by a further
£5 registration fee. The penalty charges associated with
PCN's are civil debts, due to the local authority and enforceable
through a streamlined version of the normal civil debt recovery
process.
- The Council has the option to recover any unpaid debts by the
use of Bailiffs.
Payment
Parking fines can be paid
online, by post or by telephone. You can pay
your PCN in the following ways - personal cheque,
credit/debit cards. A bar code letter can be issued to enable
payment at the post office or any paypoint outlet displaying
the yellow paypoint symbol. Full instructions on where and how
payment can be made will be given with every PCN issued. Payment
can be made during office hours on 01229 876390 or on the 24 hour
payment line 08456031510.
You may also pay online at
www.barrowbc.gov.uk.
Appeals
If you wish to challenge the issue of the PCN, your appeal must be
put in writing and sent to:
The Parking Manager,
Borough of Barrow-in-Furness,
Town Hall,
Barrow-in-Furness,
Cumbria LA14 2LD
or, be sent by fax or e-mail (see Contact Details at the
bottom of this page).
If your appeal is received after 14 days from the date of
issue of the PCN, you will lose the opportunity to pay the reduced
charge.
The Appeals Process
Following the issue of a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) the
driver of the vehicle can make an informal representation to the
Council if they believe they have grounds for appeal. The
Council will consider the appeal and will either:-
- accept the appeal and cancel the PCN. In this case, no
payment will be required.
- reject the appeal and advise the motorist of the reason
why the appeal has been rejected.
If the informal appeal has been rejected by the Council, full
details of how the Registered Keeper can make a formal appeal will
be stated in the letter of rejection. This is the last point
at which the 50% prompt payment discount will be
accepted. Once a Notice To Owner (NTO) is served on the
Registered Keeper, the full fine as shown on the PCN will become
payable.
A Registered Keeper who receives an NTO and believes they were
legally parked can make formal representations to the
Council. The Traffic Management Act sets out
the grounds only on which you can make representations. These
are the only legal grounds for claiming that the PCN was
incorrectly issued:
- The alleged contravention did not occur
- The penalty exceeded the relevant amount applicable to the
circumstances of the case
- The Order which is alleged to have been contravened in relation
to the vehicle concerned, except where it is an order to which Part
VI of Schedule 9 to the 1984 Act (a) applies, is invalid
- You were not the owner/keeper of the vehicle at the time of the
contravention
- The vehicle had been permitted to remain at rest in the
place in question by a person who was in control of the vehicle
without the consent of the owner
- You are a hire firm and have supplied the name of the person
hiring the vehicle under a formal hire agreement
- There had been a procedural impropriety on the part of the
enforcement authority
- In a case where a penalty charge notice was served by post on
the basis that a civil enforcement officer was prevented by some
person from fixing it to the vehicle concerned or handing it to the
owner or person in charge of the vehicle, that no civil enforcement
officer was so prevented
- That the notice to owner should not have been served
because:-
(1)
The penalty charge had already been paid in full;
(ii) The penalty charge had been paid, reduced by the amount of any
discount set in accordance with Schedule 9 to the 2004 Act,
within the period specified in paragraph 1(h) of the Schedule to
the General Regulations.
The Council will consider your representation and if you have
sufficient grounds, the Council will cancel the PCN and no payment
will be required.
If the Council rejects the representation and the Registered
Keeper is still not satisfied, they can appeal against the decision
to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal Service where the appeals
are dealt with by an independent adjudicator. The adjudicator
deals with the appeals by post or, if the owner requests, at a
personal hearing. The adjudicator's ruling is final.
Details of the Adjudication Appeals procedure will be included in
the letter of rejection.
Information regarding the appeals process is available on the
website for the Traffic Penalty tribunal for
England and Wales
http://www.patrol-uk.info.
Penalty Charges - What the Money is Spent on:
Prior to the introduction of decriminalised parking
enforcement in September 2001, the money collected from parking
tickets issued by the police had gone directly to Central
Government. Under the new arrangements the Local Authority in
this case, Barrow Borough Council, will retain the proceeds from
the penalty charges to finance the parking enforcement system and
any surplus will be spent on local transport measures to benefit
the local community.
- Any surplus income from Penalty Charge Notices must be used for
traffic management purposes, under the provisions of section 55 of
the road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. This includes spending
directly related to parking, public transport and highway
management.