Penalty Charge Notices surge in 2011-12

Here are the figures for the first 40 weeks of each year. The figures are only for 40 weeks as there are still a few weeks to go in 2011-12 and so we must compare like with like. There figures come from the last full meeting of council.

Week	09/10	10/11	11/12
1	2,000	714	3,808
2	2,940	1,806	2,796
3	2,559	2,137	2,673
4	3,025	2,030	2,688
5	2,878	1,860	3,069
6	2,638	2,010	3,087
7	2,901	2,032	3,093
8	2,911	2,200	2,704
9	2,714	2,185	3,043
10	2,852	1,827	3,218
11	2,172	1,323	3,223
12	2,027	1,629	3,126
13	2,169	1,474	3,505
14	2,143	1,281	3,556
15	1,960	1,411	3,488
16	1,654	1,387	3,257
17	1,432	1,564	3,025
18	1,562	1,433	2,589
19	1,530	1,414	2,578
20	1,832	1,259	2,380
21	1,961	1,267	2,668
22	1,719	1,365	2,565
23	1,782	1,324	3,011
24	1,999	1,399	3,482
25	1,698	1,375	3,462
26	1,820	1,394	3,270
27	2,061	1,542	3,624
28	1,802	1,541	3,162
29	1,768	1,617	3,095
30	1,778	1,750	3,229
31	1,762	1,814	3,413
32	2,454	1,724	3,645
33	2,250	1,538	3,729
34	2,613	1,730	3,797
35	2,708	1,987	3,366
36	2,276	1,289	3,854
37	2,309	2,611	3,735
38	1,905	2,091	3,476
39	362	156	1,994
40	1,010	845	2,578
Totals	83,936	63,335	126,061

As you can see the figures for the current financial year are up 50% on 2 years ago and nearly double the figure for last year.

Every ticket is a worry for a resident or visitor.

is this "Better service for less money?" No.

Is it "Putting the Community First?" No, again.

Is this a sign of "A successful London Suburb?" No, once more.

Is it the result of a miserable money-grubbing policy to try and keep the pressure off the general budget? Yes, I do believe it is.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here it is. The chart shows the total number of parking penalty charge notices issued for the first 40 weeks of the 3 consecutive years shown above.

                 09-10                           10-11                            11-12

It is very clear that a conscious decision has been taken to penalise the motorist as often as possible and that has been made easier by the withdrawal of parking meters and the difficulty of paying by other methods. It can't be the case that motorists in Barnet suddenly decided en masse to breach parking regulations.

There has to be some control of parking but we are in the grip of a vast and over-zealous money making machine that has no thought for people and the quality of their lives.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard