Doubly appealing

It is always interesting to compare Barnet to other London boroughs and it isn't the worst borough when it comes to parking as it doesn't tow cars away to a pound which costs the owner many a pound to get them back out of.

Parking tickets are an emotive subject and so it is hard to make an informed view based upon just the stories one hears about parking tickets. When looking at the daily register of new cases coming through to PATAS a thought struck Mr Mustard which was that a greater proportion of new cases seemed to relate to Barnet so he took a look at the figures (for parking and bus lane contraventions only - he ignored moving traffic offences as Barnet have not yet started to ticket for those - but they are getting there).

Here are the figures for the week which started on Monday 17th February 2014

PATAS	Barnet	Londonwide
	Appeals	Appeals	%
Mon	7	98	7
Tues	30	425	7
Weds	27	317	9
Thurs	24	345	7
Fri	33	351	9
Sat	2	38	5
Total	123	1,574	8
PCN issued	Barnet	London	%
Year to March 13	165,569	4,283,964	4

So Barnet account for one in every 12 Appeals to PATAS (8%), when they are one of 35 authorities whose Appeals are heard there, so straightaway that looks wrong. Then if you look at last year's figures (to March 13) we see that Barnet "only" issued 4% of all PCN in London, or 1 out of every 25 which looks rather keen (or venal and rapacious as one blog reader would say).

So what we see from this is that there are twice as many cases which get to PATAS as one would expect (at least in the random sample week). The reasons for this are impossible to know for sure but may include some or all of the following:

1 - Our NSL back office team being new to Barnet and based in Croydon simply aren't as good as NSL back office teams for other boroughs as they haven't yet built up any location history.

2 - The number of Barnet's motorists who have had enough of this disguised council tax have decided to stand and fight more often.

3 - Sites like this one, Pepipoo and Miss Feezance and others have helped to arm people with the information they need to mount an Appeal to PATAS.

4 - Once an Appeal at PATAS is successful motorists realise there is nothing to be frightened of and so appeal their next PCN.

5 - More borderline PCN are being issued which natural injustice drives people to Appeal.

6 - NSL aren't good at decision making when it comes to formal representations; they are blinkered by the money.

7 - The recession makes people more likely to fight.

8 - The Saracens zone is seen as unfair and has a greater proportion of appeals (nearly always successfully as well).

Remember that there is a quick guide to the process that you can download for free at the top left of the blog.

Keep those Appeals flowing. 

Mr Mustard will put up an example soon of how to complete a PATAS form. It is a 5 minute job.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard