Conflicts of self interest

http://www.whale.to/v/vaccine_research.html

Yesterday Mr Mustard commented upon a conflict of interest story about planning at Barnet Council.

Today Mr Mustard adds a serious matter of his own experience to the debate. Here is the email he sent to the Monitoring Officer earlier today.

Dear Ms Fiore

The following page from a government website sets out when planning permission is required for advertisements.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/advertssigns/

In a recent County Court case Parking Eye stated that they have the following signs on the Barnet Hospital site

Type 3c - 600*700m - 17 of
Type 3h - 600*700mm - 1 of
Type 5a - 700*900mm - 2 of

And the council can see them on site for themselves.

So they have 20 signs which require planning permission and Parking Eye did not apply for it before erecting the signs in 2014. Parking Eye appear to be negligent when it comes to applying for necessary permission for signs and cameras (just one example)

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/parking-company-using-unauthorised-cameras-at-retail-park-1-7774133

Planning Enforcement action is, I understand taken by employees of Re:. That company is 51% owned by Capita.

Parking Eye is 100% owned by Capita.

No matter how independently minded an employee might be he/she will struggle to properly progress the necessary enforcement action (and for the avoidance of doubt I am making a complaint and asking for the signs and cameras to be immediately removed until such time as planning permission is applied for and granted) as Parking Eye have been breaking the law by issuing parking charge notices up to date, without putting their own position in difficulty or proceeding in a completely unbiased manner (we all tend to have a natural and possibly innocent bias towards our employer) or being seen to be unbiased if they take less than robust action.

It is for that reason that I am making this complaint to you, the monitoring officer, as you are responsible for ensuring that the council enforces the law. Please appoint an independent body or another local authority, who don't number any Capita company within their client base, to deal with the matter and demonstrate that conflicts of interest are taken seriously.

Yours faithfully

Mr Mustard

Let's see how seriously conflicts of interest are actually taken because this is clearly one such example.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Aren't Parking Eye wonderful, again?

Are Parking Eye the fish or the predator?

Mr Mustard is blogging for the second time about the 'kindness' of Parking Eye (part of Capita) but things aren't necessarily what they seem. The problem Mr Mustard was faced with was that out of nowhere PE had written to his client in January 2016 threatening her with various fates including court proceedings for a Parking Charge at Barnet Hospital from the 4th quarter of 2014. It appears that PE are raking through their old cases to see if they can squeeze a few more quid out of them. You can easily imagine how frightened old folks get who don't have the help of Mr Mustard or some other expert (and private tickets aren't really his bag but he feels obliged to help frightened people).

Here is what he wrote to PE.

Dear Sirs

I represent Mrs Blue Badge (why do you address her as "Dear Sir / Madam" when you know which she is?).

She is a lady in her 80s who has reduced mobility and uses a wheeled frame. She also suffers from various ailments (not unusual in an 80+ year old) and has to attend hospital from time to time. She does display her blue badge when she visits Barnet Hospital and got a parking charge notice once (as she didn't realise the system had changed) but asked the hospital to cancel it on her next visit which they did do (presumably by agreement with yourselves). I don't know if that was this charge notice or another one but not many people keep paperwork for completed matters until 2016.

I don't know where you sent earlier letter / notices (and would like copies of them all) but you have written to an address at which my client does not and never has lived. She lived at Barracks Rd for 50 years prior to moving into Old Folks Court. She has the benefit of my free assistance and so does not ignore paperwork about alleged parking contraventions. As it happens she is known at xxx Great North Road and the occupier opened your letter in error but this has still led to embarrassment for my client.

You may, in all the circumstances, wish to consider cancelling the claim.

Yours faithfully

This is what PE wrote in reply.

Dear Mr. Mustard

Thank you for your recent correspondence in regards to this matter.
 

On this occasion as a gesture of goodwill we will be cancelling this charge.
 

Kind regards

ParkingEye Enforcement Team

ParkingEye
Part of Capita Parking Services

What they didn't do was send Mr Mustard copies of the correspondence which he had asked to see (no surprise there as it might have been embarrassing with the incorrect addresses on it) and there isn't any explanation or apology for the data breach and PE are probably hoping that given the cancellation Mr Mustard won't take the matter any further. Mr Mustard's client isn't one to cause a fuss, or deliberately break parking rules, so this time PE will get away with their doubtful behaviour.

If anything similar happens to you, complain.

In Mr Mustard's experience PE are making a packet out of blue badge holders at hospitals who don't realise they have to register their blue badge and car(s) at reception because this is compeltely different to the guide issued by the government about how to use your blue badge (which only applies to the public highway).

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

ParkingHeart (formerly ParkingEye)

Mr Mustard has seen plenty of adverse publicity for ParkingEye (now owned by Capita) when they have penalised someone who stayed a minute too long in a car park and are now being hounded to death for £100, so when he sent the following email, on behalf of a rather ill client, he anticipated that he would soon be in court as a lay representative fighting a rearguard action. He was wrong.

---

I represent Jane Doe as per the attached authority.

My client is mentally ill as she suffers from illness1 & illness2 as per the attached report from a consultant clinical psychologist.

My client is also physically unwell. She has a blue badge as she suffers from illnesses 3,4,5 & 6.

I think there is more than one branch of Morrisons in Harrow but I do know that my client is a regular shopper with that firm (although she does not keep her receipts) and whilst I doubt she will be able to remember anything meaningful about what she did on dd/mm/yyyy due to her mental state (and I doubt that any of us could without reference to some sort of diary, if kept) I am going to accept your record of the visit for the sake of this without prejudice offer only.

My client is unfit to work and exists entirely on state benefits. If she had to pay a penalty to you she would be unable to afford the essentials of life. I know she is financially embarrassed as she has been summonsed for non-payment of council tax and should you obtain a judgment an application would be made for payment by instalments in the nominal sum of £1 per month.

I would rather see the file off my desk and so in order to see an end to the matter I am personally prepared to pay the sum of £20, and no more, which I estimate will more than cover your costs to date.

I look forward to hearing from you.

---

Back came the response fairly quickly.

---

Thank you for your recent correspondence in regards to this matter.

Please take this as confirmation that the above referenced Parking Charge has been cancelled as a Gesture of Goodwill.

Kind regards,

ParkingEye Enforcement Team

Well, strike Mr Mustard down with a feather. He thought he would be shelling out £20 of his own hard-earned but no, Parking Eye employ at least one person with a heart. Everything Mr Mustard said in his email was true and could be supported with evidence so don't try a similar approach unless it is the truth.

Please also bear in mind that it is only exceptionally that Mr Mustard will step into the murky world of private parking enforcement as he prefers the devils he knows, the ones in council employ.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Let's help Barry Beavis fight for us

That's Barry Beavis in the foreground against Crapita (Parking Eye) in front of the crowd

This is all about private parking tickets (parking charge notices) that you might pick up at Asda, motorway services, Barnet Hospital etc etc.

As reported yesterday by Mr Mustard's friends at Parking Cowboys (who are far from cowboys), Barry Beavis’s appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. However, the court did grant him the option of appealing to the Supreme Court. Following that, Barry has decided to go all the way but he needs to raise around £6,000 to fund it. That comprises £1,600 to lodge the Notice of Appeal, and £4,500 for lodging the appeal bundle itself.

As of 18:00 on 24th, £1,770 has already been donated (Mr Mustard has put £100 in the pot)

If you want to contribute, you can do so here.

Whatever you can spare, please spare it as if Barry can beat Parking Eye then he will have done the whole country a great service.

Mr Mustard is grateful to you all.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Barnet Hospital - parking tickets

the top sign is far too high to read

The Barnet Hospital parking problem for the disabled.

As Mr Mustard correctly predicted in the local Times newspaper back in August when it started, parking, for many visitors to the hospital isn't working out well which makes it a triumph for Parking Eye (Capita) as the profits will be rolling in, and it is the disabled who seem to be bearing the brunt of the problem.

Many regular disabled visitors didn't notice the new signs and why would they look for them as all they have to do on the street is to put their blue badges out. Technically blue badges have absolutely no legal standing on private land as the legislation that enacted them only considered the public road. What has happened is that lots of disabled people have put their blue badge on display, gone to their appointment and then a few days later received a "parking charge notice" through the post from Parking Eye which demands £100 within 28 days of the issue of the demand or the lesser sum of £60 if paid within 14 days of the date of the demand. For council tickets you always get 14 or 28 days from the date of arrival of the demand so Parking Eye are applying time pressure to people who are probably sick and thus behind with personal paperwork as they have other more important things to think about.

The other logistical point which springs to Mr Mustard's mind is that councils are not allowed to use cctv where a blue badge would be valid as the camera can't see it (the vast majority of cctv enforcement will soon be stopped on the public highway). The Rt Hon Eric Pickles who very sensibly acted to stop big brother ticketing needs to have a chat with his ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health and force hospitals to revert to a local system of blue badge checking on the ground so that the disabled don't have to traipse off to reception to register their blue badge. The disabled are being forced to register their cars when all the able bodied have to do is to pay at a meter near to their car so the disabled are being discriminated against when they should be treated better (due adjustments should be made for their condition).

What to do if you get a parking charge notice?

1.  Complain locally. Update 4 Feb 15. Reception have the power to cancel the parking charge notice.

Go to reception and ask them to cancel the ticket although Mr Mustard thinks they will say they can't as only Parking Eye can do so which, if correct, is wrong as it is the hospital's car park and they should retain the right to insist upon cancellation; a blue badge holder whose chemotherapy ran late really shouldn't have to explain their medical details to a representative of a parking company; this is distressing, confidential and personal information.

Take your blue badge with you to prove you have one although it isn't strictly necessary as if you are obviously disabled but don't have a blue badge the necessary adjustment should still be made due to your disability.

You could ask PALS (Patient Advice & Liaison Service) to get involved (bcfpals@nhs.net) although they too can probably only support you in the process. The hospital have erred. They should train PALS and reception to cancel these parking penalties in suitable circumstances.

You could tweet about it to #RoyalFreeNHS as like all large organisations they are image conscious and will fall over themselves to help in order to present a friendly public face.

If the hospital and/or Parking Eye don't deal with you sympathetically think about appearing in the Barnet Times paper as it may help other people. (Chief Reporter Anna Slater)

2.  Challenge the penalty. 

The main stumbling block for private parking companies is the fact that they have to show what their "Genuine pre-Estimate of Loss" is. In this case as you don't have to pay as you have a blue badge, once you disclose the existence of a blue badge there is no possibility of a loss. If you like to deal with these things yourselves, all well and good. You can get help by:

a. googling about Parking Eye (you will get thousands of results)

b. looking at the Parking Prankster site

c. looking at the Parking Cowboys website

d. using the Pepipoo forum (odd name but a great source of knowledge)

which will soon have you armed with strong arguments.

3. Pay for expert help

If Mr Mustard gets a request for assistance with a private parking ticket he sends the person to this website 

Private Parking Ticket Appeals Service

There are modest £5 and £10 fees to pay and the people offering this service really do know what they are doing (they know far more than Mr Mustard about private tickets)

If you can't deal with stress then this commercial and efficient service is the answer. It is what Mr Mustard would do if he got a parking charge notice at a hospital (or a motorway services several of which he stopped in for 30 minutes or so this week).

4. Do not ignore the problem; it will not go away.

On no account ignore the parking charge notice (those days are gone). Fight the penalty at every stage and keep to timetable.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard