No Humanity in Hounslow

Councils have become overly reliant on PCN income and all humanity has been lost in the search for revenue.

Mr Mustard made the following formal representation which was basically a cry for help:

 

One would think that any person with a heart would let the one PCN go by the wayside given the fact that I am telling them that the motorist is seriously ill. No, all that matters is that you should give Hounslow Council £160, they not even offering the 50% discount again (it is optional at this stage but would have shown some empathy, fake though it would have been).

Here is what was written:

It seems that Hounslow Council don't understand that they have been asked to exercise their discretion as a goodwill gesture.

Looking at the elements of the response, we know why the PCN was issued, the details are on the Notice to Owner which prompted the representation.

The line which starts 'I have noted...' is otiose.

'Stressful' - that is something of an under-statement.

It is true that serious cancer 'has no bearing on the validity of the PCN...' but that is not what the request was for, it was for the exercise of discretion, the response lays a false trail, it is an exercise in sophistry. 

This is what the Secretary of State has to say in his Statutory Guidance to which a council must have due regard:

The guidance is clear. Hounslow Council can cancel any PCN, no matter how correct, if they want to. 

Mr Mustard thinks that being told you should think about whether to drive or not due to your serious health condition is advice that the motorist doesn't need to hear from a council whose business it isn't (it is the DVLA's role) so butt out Hounslow.

Although the rejection letter says they have 'carefully considered the representations, and any mitigating circumstances' that is clearly a standard response because it should refer to 'the mitigating circumstances' not 'any' that might have been advanced. The response is a lazy one, the motorist deserves a proper response.

The worst part of this letter, in Mr Mustard's opinion are the words:

'there is no reason for it to be cancelled'.

Just let that sink in. An extremely serious cancer isn't a good enough reason for a PCN for a minor parking contravention to be cancelled. 

The world has been turned upside down. Councils have been given too much power and they are abusing it very badly.

Hounslow Council should hang its head in shame, give itself a good talking to, revisit its policies and start behaving with some common decency.

What of course the letter should have explained is why discretion would not be exercised. That consideration starts from an assumption that the PCN is valid and so the response should explain why discretion is not being exercised. What does it take before discretion is exercised?

If the write of the letter (nameless of course) had to sit across a desk from the motorist and tell them no to their face, they wouldn't be able to do it. That is how the question of discretion should be considered.