This is the hire agreement which relates to this decision, in which Haringey Council extracted £160 from Islington Council. Evidence packs for such a case can be requested under Freedom of Information regulations (or possible environmental regulations which are similar). Mr Mustard often asks to see the paperwork when it comes to one council fighting another as he likes to see how proficient the council are who received the PCN. Councils should ask their own parking departments for help but it seems they don't.
When Mr Mustard studied the evidence pack he found a blunder. The law allows for a transfer of liability from a hire company to the hirer under certain circumstances of which two are that the hire agreement is for less than 6 months
and that the hirer signs to say that liability for a PCN can be transferred.
The above agreement isn't signed and someone might have signed it on behalf of Islington Council and their signature has been redacted with an eraser function that leaves no trace but given that the Reg. No. has been redacted with a black block it seems unlikely the signature will have been erased by a different manner.
Leaving that aside the hire agreement is for 6 months exactly. That is not a period which is less than 6 months and thus Haringey Council were wrong to accept the On hire agreement as sufficient to agree to a transfer of liability as they did.
Had Mr Mustard, or any other seasoned expert, represented Islington Council at the hearing he would have pointed the error out in their skeleton argument and expected to win the day.
It isn't just Haringey who are sloppy in this regard, most councils are, they accept bald assertions about long term hires (to which different rules apply, an effective change of keeper) without seeing adequate backup.
The end.
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