Barnet Council - out of the goodness of their heart

 

Sometimes it is hard not to laugh. The large cynical part of Mr Mustard thinks that the above response is utter tosh, if the resident had themselves written in asking for a discretionary cancelleation Mr Mustard thinks it would not have taken place. Your responses by way of comment below, on twitter or by email to mrmustard@zoho.com will tell Mr Mustard if he is correctly being cynical or not.

 

If you have a recently expired permit and a PCN then you can now write in your challenge asking to be given the same discretionary cancellation as for AG45904922

The end.

The wrong type of permit - not!

Right, you have a resident permit for the HC2 zone (part of Hendon Central). Can you park in this bay?

Yes, of course you can.

Can you park in this bay?

Yes, of course you can.

However, a traffic warden (CEO - Civil Enforcement Officer) having a very bad day (and someone back at base) thought otherwise. Here is the story from the resident.

Hi

Keen reader of the blog!

I live in NW4 Brampton Grove and witness a fair amount of nonsense from the CEO’s around Barnet. Today reached a new low.

I was parked in a bay where I have parked for the last 5 years. After seeing the CEO put a ticket on my car I ran downstairs from my flat to investigate. She then informs me that I was getting a PCN because car was parked in a bay which was labelled permit holders only and not resident permit holders only like the bays opposite. I then tried to explain that the reason it says permit holders only and not resident holders only because it also allows business permits under the HD code my resident permit code is HC2 which is clearly listed on the sign. She refused to listen to me and I argued that for the past five years the CEOs have not probably looked at my permit and that I should’ve been given PCN’s. She even called someone who confirmed wrongly that I should be given one.

Thought you’d like to hear about this one!

Oh yes. Here is the PCN.

Here also is the permit for the car and location in question.

Mr Mustard offered to sort it out but his reader is robust and well able to deal with it himself and in fact it is already cancelled.

Hi Mr Mustard

Thanks for the quick response.

Re - new to the job - that’s what I asked! But she said she’s been doing it for over a year. I said she may want to retrain or get her eyes tested. Almost want to put in an official complaint due to incompetence.

How do they get away with this! I was not the only car in those set of bays who got a ticket either…!! 

This PCN was ineffably stupid and to double down when challenged and be told the wrong thing by the office is just calamity upon calamity.

If you get a PCN in similar circumstances do not pay it. Make a complaint as unless enough complaints are made the CEO won't be retrained (except that Mr Mustard is going to ask for some to be given as goodness knows what other havoc is being perpetrated. Also, challenge the PCN or come to Mr Mustard, this sort of PCN is only a minute's work - email: mrmustard@zoho.com

The end.

New Year's Resolutions - Yours!

In 2015 Mr Mustard has completed the challenges to over 270 PCN and lost 11 of them but as he is rather busy now in his professional life he would find it handy if you, yes you, could receive fewer PCN in 2016 (to be fair many people  ask Mr Mustard for help but once a year) as that is the easiest way to avoid paying out your hard earned. Also, the council are sharpening their act up so technical challenges are now harder to find.

By parking legally at all times you will force the traffic wardens to run around ever faster looking for victims and if you can have enough of an effect on the 153,000 (165,000 the previous year) PCN issued each year (to 31 March 15) in Barnet the number of traffic wardens might have to be reduced as they will only be retained whilst there is a profit to be made.

So, how do you avoid getting a parking ticket?

Double yellow lines - don't take a chance.

Don't park on double yellow lines, ever, day or night. This is what they look like in case you are in any doubt:

You are allowed to pick up or set down passengers and their luggage which should take less than 2 minutes (longer if you have small children, the elderly or disabled passengers). If you are disabled you can park on them for up to 3 hours as long as your badge is in the windscreen, the correct way up (i.e. showing the expiry date) and with the clock correctly set. It doesn't matter if there is an odd break in the lines, as long as they look like a set of double yellows the adjudicator will find against you.

Kerb flashes

Now on the next kind of double yellows, even blue badge holders cannot park. This is because of the kerb "flashes" which are short stripes at 90 degrees to the road. If there are double stripes that means no unloading at any time. There should also be a sign like this one:

So park somewhere else with your blue badge; a car park, a residents bay or a paybyphone bay all of which you can park in all day for free (in Barnet - you'll have to check the arrangements in other boroughs).

If there is only one stripe across the kerb you are more than likely on a single yellow line and the times at which you cannot unload, and thus cannot use your blue badge, will be on an adjacent sign.

Pavement parking

The next big mistake which people make is to treat the pavement as an extension of the road, viz:

Thank you for this photo to Alan Stanton.

Mr Mustard understands why people do it, often because the road is too narrow if you leave your whole vehicle on the carriageway but all you do is break the paving slabs (making it more likely that an old person will suffer a fall) possibly prevent wheelchairs and buggies passing along the pavement thus forcing them into the road and giving a traffic warden a golden opportunity to give you a PCN without a second's hesitation. There are 5 traffic wardens out on scooters until 11 at night looking for cars parked like this. They keep finding them, let's spoil their fun.

There are roads where you may have it in writing from the council that pavement parking will not be ticketed (treasure that letter) or the pavement may be specially marked out with bays and signs on posts saying that it is permissible, signs like this one.

If it isn't clear that you have express permission to park on the pavement, anywhere in Greater London, don't do it.

There is an exemption for builders who are unloading but it is very tightly drawn. It has to be absolutely necessary to be on the pavement, loading has to be ongoing and someone has to be with the vehicle so unloading 1,000 bricks to the rear of a property out of sight on your own won't wash.

Dropped kerbs and/or raised roads = crossovers

This is another favourite of the traffic warden.

not perfect but still obviously a dropped kerb

Now you can't park across a dropped kerb which exists to enable pedestrians (and wheelchairs) to cross the road, to enable cyclists to enter/exit a cycle lane or for vehicles to access premises. You often find them at junctions to help pedestrians.

You can park across a dropped kerb of your own home, friends or family with permission if the dropped kerb serves only one residence (as it is the practice of Barnet Council to only issue PCNs on demand for dropped kerbs, except inside CPZs at operational times when it is automatic). So, if you and your neighbour share one drive, or you live in a small block of flats and even though you might be the only driver, you cannot block that dropped kerb. Also be wary inside a CPZ as the dropped kerb might have a single yellow line across it and that would operate at the times shown on the CPZ entry plates. If a white line is painted across the dropped kerb it means nothing legally and is intended to alert you to the existence of the dropped kerb.

The car in the picture above got ticketed in Barnet and had to go all the way through the appeal process before the PCN was cancelled at PATAS.

Single yellow line inside a CPZ.

Lots of people get caught out with this one especially in Golders Green on a Sunday.

Now, if you find a single yellow line with a time plate nearby then you know exactly where you are. The sign has the times during which you cannot park. If you cannot see a time plate do not park without further research. A single yellow line means that there is a parking restriction which is less than 24 hours. Now you have to find out what it is. The answer is on a sign like this one:

A bit grubby this one, not easy to read after dark

So this sign, which you passed half a mile ago and didn't really notice is the one that applies to your single yellow line. The idea is to reduce street clutter but in Mr Mustard's book it increases confusion in the eyes of the motorist. Many will look at the adjoining bay (they all have to have signs so clutter reduction is not that great) and assume that the same times apply; they might or they might not. The answer is to start looking out for these signs in the future or to drive back to the edge of the zone to check and once you have done that you might as well park for free and walk if you have the time.

Given a choice between a parking bay whose hours have finished and an unknown single yellow line you should use the bay.

Bus stops

What a beautiful bus stop in Friern Barnet. All it needs now is a bus. It doesn't need your car in it and your car should not be in it so stay out of it no matter how tempted you are; Mr Mustard only just managed to get a PCN cancelled for a lady picking up her injured son in a bus stop in order to take him to hospital - that is how difficult it is to get such a PCN cancelled.

A thick yellow line (8 or 12 inches wide) and the words bus stop in 1.6 metre high letters should be enough of a hint that a bus stop is not a place for you to stop your car not even for a minute to pop into the newsagent or to ask directions. Traffic wardens drop out of the sky when you least want them to.

Bus stops can still be enforced by cctv if they have that thick yellow line.

Special bays (taxis / motorcycles / disabled / doctors etc)

Unless you are a  taxi / motorcycle / blue badge holder / doctor etc stay out of the bay which is restricted to certain users. There will be a sign saying who can use the bay and words painted on the carriageway so do follow them. This sort of bay will usually be restricted 24 hours a day but there are some that aren't which you can park in outside of the restricted times. Mr Mustard started learning in depth about parking tickets when he parked, in November 2009, on a Mon-Fri disabled bay and it was a Saturday and he received a PCN. The council cancelled it but had to be pushed to admit they had made a mistake. Mr Mustard didn't know at that time what he knows now but council errors are very common.

Blue badges

It is a common error to put the photo side of your permit to the top. If you keep it in a holder with only one open face then you cannot make that mistake. Mr Mustard thinks that the best way of not forgetting your blue badge clock is to set it every time you park even if you don't need to. Be careful with the pointer and keep it well to the earlier part of the quarter hour in which you arrived, you are marking the quarter hour not the exact minute. Official advice from London Tribunals (formerly PATAS) is midway but that is dangerous in Barnet where a clock set to 2:07 will see a PCN issued between 2:00 and 2:06 on the spurious grounds that you advanced the clock to give yourself extra time.

The other problem is expired badges. They are renewed every 3 years and reminders are not sent. Badges issued 3 years ago had a hand written date which fades over time (you can get them changed for free). Go outside now and check your badge or that of your relative and apply for a new badge 6-8 weeks before the old one expires.

Resident permit expiry

This is another common problem. The council send reminders but say this is merely a courtesy so if you rely on them and they let you down (which happens a lot) they say it isn't their fault and the PCN stands. Mr Mustard's advice is the same. Go outside* now and check your permit and that of 2 or 3 neighbours and deal with it if the permit has expired. If it has then you can apply on line for a permit to be instantly issued as they are now electronic. Also make a note in your phone to remind you a month before the next renewal date or write a note and put it on a prominent notice board in your kitchen.

*After about October 16 all permits will be electronic so if you don't know when your's expires you will have to phone the council up on 020 8359 7446 to find out (Mr Mustard doesn't know if the little used MyAccount option tells you as he doesn't use it)

The bus lane

In Barnet there is only one bus lane. Mostly on the A5 southbound although there is also a very short northbound section where Barnet territory extends west over the A5 for some reason. Most of the northbound lane is in Brent. Southbound the times are (unless readers tell me otherwise) 7 - 10 am and 4 - 7pm i.e the morning and evening rush hour. Just stay out of the bus lane at those times. The only times you can use the bus lanes are when there is less traffic so that you probably don't need to. Some people never go in a bus lane ever and so never receive a bus lane PCN through the post. If you have lots of time you could treat bus lanes as forbidden territory. Note that motorcycles are not allowed in Barnet's bus lanes.

At the start of the bus lane there will be a sign 30m before it to tell you of the times and give you time to move across to lane 2 and a thick solid white line on the offside and the words Bus Lane in huge letters also tell you of the existence of a bus lane. If in doubt, stay out as the cameras are automatic and pick up 99% of contraventions, even in the dark.

Call a taxi to get me to the kerb

Parking a long way from the kerb is untidy, inconsiderate and possibly dangerous. It is also an offence if all of your car including the mirrors, not in a marked out parking space, is more than 50cm from the kerb when parked. This is to stop double parking but is rigorously enforced at all times even if you are just a sloppy parker, not double parked and doing no harm. Do please make sure that part of your car is within 50cm of the kerb, a wheel or a wing mirror will do but preferably all of one side of the car to be on the safe side, about 10cm from the kerb should be possible for most people. Park, get out, look and move if you haven't done well enough.

That's enough to keep you safe from 90% of the contraventions.

Good luck and all the best for 2016.

If you are a member of a group of any sort and would like a 20 minute presentation on parking tickets, then Mr Mustard is your man. No charge, just a nice cup of tea will do.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

e-permits now available but only if your property still exists

Today, coincidentally, two local people saw Mr Mustard to tell him they couldn't buy an e-permit because their properties did not exist. One had, after a 30 minute wait, spoken to Crapita who said they would quickly fix the problem but that was 5 days ago and the permit had somehow expired 3 weeks ago so this was urgent.

Mr Mustard was engaged on paid work today, as he has a client meeting tomorrow, and so it was only late in the day that he realised what had happened. He put EN5 4LX into the permit application form (both the street name and the postcode are mandatory information which is poor as the latter usually dictates the former) and this is the top part of the selection offered to him:

The problem was instantly apparent; numbers 4, 6 & 8 are on the other side of the road and have a different postcode, being EN4 4LU, so Mr Mustard's neighbour can now sort his problem out as it doesn't matter what the postcode is as nothing is being posted to you (except maybe a reminder if you are lucky in a year's time) and it would probably still arrive as Carnarvon Rd has diligent postmen.

If you can't find your property, use other local postcodes which you can find here.

This database is not as simple as you think as only 1 in 10 properties qualifies for a residents permit and not necessarily every property in any one road. Someone is going to have to check many thousands of addresses. It will probably be possible to compare the postcode of qualifying permit address against the PAF (postcode address file) and amend the errors that way.

Mr Mustard wonders if Crapita have worked out what the problem is, what with them being in Coventry, and not having true local knowledge of Barnet.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Environment Committee - Tuesday 27 January 2015 at 7pm

On Tuesday the Environment Committee will vote on the new Resident Permit charges which are now based on emissions and this is what officers are proposing, for the "first" car (the first one you have to renew under the new arrangements. If you can organise your lowest emissions car to be renewed first that will save you money).

Your electric car permit won't now cost anything (although this is an oddity as it must take the same amount of energy to move you in an all electric car; it's just that the emissions are where the electricity was generated)

Here are some new permits which Mr Mustard predicts there won't be a stampede to purchase. The council really must get away from the idea that they can soak businesses in cost and move towards wondering how they can make the life of businesses easier at reasonable cost in order to attract more businesses to Barnet.

If you want a space for a removals van outside your house try talking to your neighbours to see if you can organise space for the van between yourselves rather than paying these excessive amounts to the council

Mr Mustard doesn't see why teachers should get special treatment over any other type of employee within the borough, you can also have your say soon. If teachers are to be allowed permits then so should every other type of employee within a CPZ.

The latest money spinner is finally arriving, issuing penalties for moving traffic contraventions, or in the case of yellow box junctions, not moving when you should be.

It was back on 1 May 2012 that most of the staff who responded to challenges to PCN were made redundant when their jobs were moved to Croydon. Now 12 roles are coming back to Barnet (hurrah) (and assuming councillors vote in favour which seems likely) and hopefully this increased local knowledge will lead to better decisions being made. 

Mr Mustard promises to put the new team through their paces.

Be warned though, that the council intend to make a packet out of the new contraventions. You will need to up your driving game. Computers will watch your every move and miss nothing.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

p.s. your second car will be a flat rate £70 and not based on emissions at all, so you might as well order that 3.5 litre monster.

Finchley re-zoned as Hendon

Here is the text of a recently received email:

Dear Mr Mustard

You recently successfully appealed a PCN for my husband. I have today received a PCN on my car parked outside my house in Finchley, displaying its permit. What I didn’t realise until closely inspecting the permit is that although it is up to date the area is HC2 and not FN. I’ve had a permit for this car since they were introduced and have renewed it on time each year. I just didn’t notice that the zone was incorrect this time. I would hope that this is excellent grounds for a successful appeal…!

Can you advise me what to do?

Mr Mustard did advise what to do and the PCN was quickly cancelled as it was, not to put too fine a point on it, complete rollocks. The council issue the wrong permit to a resident of 23 years who has had the same car for 9 years so why should they check the council has done its job properly as that is the least one is entitled to expect and what the resident has paid for.

So now as well as checking your permit is in date you had better check it has the correct zone identification letters on it such that they are the same as the ones on the signs in your street. How a North Finchley resident (FN) got a permit with the letters HC2 (a sub section of Hendon central) is a complete mystery although this is the second time that Mr Mustard has come across the problem, the last time the resident did live in Hendon and simply received the wrong Hendon zone permit and it took months to sort out. Perhaps the council is getting better at sorting out its cock-ups given how many it makes?

Mr Mustard wonders if the permit zone defaults to a particular zone or to the last one used whereas it should default to null and force the processor to input one. Having been given the idea here, Mr Mustard is sure the council will sit up and take notice. There is zero tolerance on errors in parking so 100% of permits should be correctly issued.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

The permit system is pants

Captain Underpants

The council wants to nudge everyone towards using the Internet to obtain whatever they need without any real thought that the main purpose of the council is to serve, not to force everyone to be served in the same way, which isn't suitable for the more elderly.

Here is what happened when a more senior member of society tried to renew his car permit on-line

My father tried to renew his Barnet residents permit on-line three times. Each time it failed saying it couldn't recognise his address. So he telephoned instead to be told that it had indeed been renewed on-line. So the computer was saying no instead of yes. Now he will need to check his account to make sure he hasn't been debited 3 times.

All the best

It is completely wrong for the council to force channel shift in the first place, they should offer a rage of methods including telephone, post and personal visit to accommodate all types of citizen including the elderly and those who are not computer literate. Having forced the one option upon us they could at least make sure it works properly.

We are being "managed" by an overpaid gang of incompetents, it would seem.

If you have permit problems, do let Mr Mustard know by email to mrmustard@zoho.com

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Saracens (Copthall) Event Day CPZ - Confused Parking Zone

Map of Saracens Event Day CPZ by MisterMustard

In the space of 10 days Mr Mustard has been consulted about 4 parking tickets given to 3 residents who live within the Event Day CPZ and didn't apply for an Event Day permit because they already had a Resident Permit.

In his operational guidance the Secretary of State wrote "motorists cannot reasonably be expected to read, understand and remember the parking restrictions at the entrance to a Controlled Parking Zone that covers an area of more than a dozen streets."

So, how extensive is the Saracens CPZ? Here is a plan of it.

Map of Saracens Event Day CPZ by MisterMustard

 

From Stanhope Gardens in the NW of the zone, to Garrick Way in the south of it, is a distance of 2.5 miles. This is self evidently not an area of about a dozen streets but a blatant disregard of the guidance for a CPZ zone. Every vehicle owner within the red dotted boundary needs an ED permit (ED stands for Event Day). They are free as Saracens pay for them and for up to 88 visitor vouchers each year to cover the 16 match days + 2 other days. (You are allowed 4.8 visitors per day. Mr Mustard doesn't suppose there is any rule that stops you providing them as gifts to your rugby loving friends who want to go to a match).

Why is it that a number of residents, out of the 7,500 who are estimated to live within the zone, have not realised they need to have at least 1 and possibly 2 permits in their car. Mr Mustard doesn't know the full extent of the communications with affected residents but he does have the information sent out in November 12. Here is the envelope that the letter was in.

Mr Mustard can imagine how this landed in amongst pizza leaflets and other junk mail and got thrown away. It is 2013 and databases abound everywhere. Surely it wouldn't have been that hard a job to run a search of the existing CPZ permit holders and the council tax payers within the affected roads and then write personally addressed letters?

According to the Delegated Powers Report concerning this CPZ, there are about 7,500 residences within the zone (although a recent FOI said 9,000 and if you are wondering why Mr Mustard asked a question he knew the answer to the answer is he hadn't stumbled upon the 7,500 at the time he asked).

Here is the letter that was inside The Occupier envelope

Barnet Council - Saracens CPZ by MisterMustard

Having read the whole two pages Mr Mustard concludes it is not the best bit of writing that Mr Richardson has ever issued (he is a helpful officer and probably pretty pressed so let us not be hard on him but instead be lenient on those who make an error) and he may not have actually written it. In an attempt to be thorough there is a lot of information but, like Craig Cooper's statement to the High Court on the NSCSO Judicial Review which the judge gave a kicking for being unhelpfully laid out, this letter suffers from a lack of headings and structure. The information would have been much better presented in a booklet with pages headed Why, Where, When, How to apply, Costs etc

What doesn't this letter say?

The zone is labelled the ED zone.

Even if you have a residents permit for, say, zone E, you need another one, issued free, for zone ED.

What it does say, and what has probably led many people astray is: 

"Any person wishing to park on roads within the CPZ when an event is taking place will need to display either a residents permit or a visitor voucher in their vehicle."

which means that a resident with a zone E permit might not have read any further as they did have "a residents permit". This would be one of Mr Mustard's defences to a parking ticket.

How many people have already obtained an ED permit? Only 3,449 so possibly 4,000 people are at risk of a parking ticket.

If you know anyone inside this monster CPZ zone please ask them if they have a free ED permit so that they are not at risk of getting a PCN (if you are unlucky enough to get one please ask Mr Mustard for help. He is building up a lot of expertise in appealing). If they need a permit they can apply on-line here or telephone 020 8359 7446.

Don't be shy to ask for visitor vouchers either. 269,743 have been issued so far. They are free.

Maybe the council should now follow up by putting an explanatory leaflet on every car found in breach on an Event Day rather than a PCN?

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Motto: Don't get caught; if you get caught - appeal!

Permit me to give you a parking ticket dear resident

More than 10,000 residents have a permit to park within their local CPZ (controlled parking zone). They pay at least £100 each year for this "service" which is intended to enable them to be able to park more easily near their residence. The council use the existence of CPZs to issues tens of thousands of penalty charge notices (PCN) and make sackloads of money. The least that a resident can expect is that they will receive a reminder in the post about a month before the renewal is due and that if for some reason something goes wrong (Mr Mustard gets other people's post all the time for example which could be your permit renewal reminder, don't worry he would pass it on but your mail could get delivered to an empty house next door?) then the least they can expect is a quick resolution of the problem at no cost. Does this happen? Not all the time. Some cases end up being heard by the independent adjudicator, like this one:.

Mrs G does not dispute that her car was parked at the location in Mill Ridge in a residents bay.

The alleged contravention is parking without clearly displaying a permit or pay and display ticket. The location was a residents bay. The Appellant has explained that she had problems with the holder for her residents permit. When she wrote to the Local Authority on 1.8.2012, she stated  that she realised that her permit had fallen from its place on the windscreen. The Civil Enforcement Officer, who observed the car in the residents bay noted that there was no valid residents permit.

A contravention occurs if at any time during which the vehicle is parked in a parking place the permit is not clearly displayed.  I am satisfied that no valid permit was clearly displayed at the relevant time.  

As an Adjudicator I am not empowered to exercise discretion or to mitigate penalties. I am satisfied that the contravention occurred and that the Penalty Charge Notice was correctly issued. The Appellant drew attention to the fact that a similar Penalty Charge Notice had been cancelled . The fact that the Local Authority exercises discretion to cancel one Penalty Charge Notice does not mean all Penalty Charge Notices for the same contravention should be cancelled. Although the Local Authority would have a record of resident permit holders, this does not excuse a driver from the responsibility of ensuring that permits are clearly displayed. I do not find that the Local Authority acted in any way unreasonably. (Mr Mustard does think that the local authority has acted unreasonably. All tickets with the same facts should have the same outcome; another adjudicator described such behaviour by Barnet Council as capricious which you will read later. The handheld equipment of the traffic warden should show that a permit exists and they could issue a PCN for £0.00 as a gentle nudge to sort out the problem as they once did for Mr Mustard in less avaricious times a few years ago.)

and another one where the permit had expired less than 24 hours previously:

Mr J attended the hearing. The Enforcement Authority was not represented.

The agreed facts are that the vehicle was parked in a permit bay displaying a permit that had expired the day before the contravention and a Penalty Charge Notice was issued.

Mr J has an annual permit. He applied to renew that permit but did not receive the replacement permit in time. The new permit started from 3 August, the day of the contravention.

The Authority rightly points out that the contravention occurs if a valid permit is not displayed, and so the Penalty Charge Notice was lawfully issued.
The Adjudicator is not empowered by law to allow an appeal on grounds of mitigation, but can make a recommendation to the Enforcement Authority to exercise their discretionary powers in the Appellant's favour. I do find that there is compelling mitigation in this case and point out the following:
1. The Appellant's permit had only expired the day before.

 2. He had already paid for a renewal and the only reason the new permit was not displayed is because it had not yet been received.
3. Had the Civil Enforcement Officer checked with base, he would have established that a new permit had been issued which covered 3 August.
4. The Enforcement Authority has not lost any revenue in this case.
5. There was no intention to avoid payment or park in contravention.

so a sensible decision by the Adjudicator that the parking ticket ought to be cancelled, Barnet Council do not have to comply though. They would be well advised to as the Code of Practice of London Councils says the following:

if the permit has only recently expired (e.g. less than 7 days) ......a warning could be issued. How on earth did this case go all the way through the system without some commonsense being applied? 

and the third recent adjudication about a resident permit:

In effect the appellant is arguing that the authority should have exercised its discretion differently.

It is not is dispute that the vehicle was parked in a residents' bay, without the residents permit, to which he is entitled and which he holds, on display. Prima facie therefore the officer was entitled to issue the Penalty Charge Notice.

The authority has a discretion as to whether or not to pursue a Penalty Charge Notice to its conclusion.

Mr D put the facts as he understood them to the authority. These are that he has been a permit holding resident for 6 years. In this instance his previous permit expired on the day in question (31 st October 2012) and he renewed it, for the first time online. He tried to display it and flew to Berlin on business. He says that he failed to attach the downloaded permit to the windscreen properly and it became detached and was no longer on display.

This is the first of 5 Penalty Charge Notices issued to the vehicle on 5 days from 31 October, for the contravention identified.  He found 4 of them when he returned from Berlin. The fifth, this PCN, (the first in time) he only knew of when he received the Notice to Owner.
There are one or two elements of Mr D's account which are not quite clear. The first is that, as the authority points out, the evidence shows that he only flew to Berlin on 2 November 2012, some 2 days after the problem began. The second is that the letter he produces of 24 October 2012 appears to be a paper letter enclosing the replacement permit ('please detach the permit below') rather than appearing as a downloaded document.  Also the new permit was valid from 1 November 2012, and it is not therefore clear why he would not have discovered the problem before he flew to Berlin.

But the strongest point in his favour, undoubtedly, is that an officer of the authority, having considered his representations, cancelled one of the subsequent PCNs, that of 2nd or 1st of November. However a different officer considered the same representations on the other 3 PCNs on which he had made representations, (and this one, of which he only became aware later) and rejected his case outright.

The authority's answer to his challenge on this basis is that the cancellation of one was "a goodwill gesture" only and does not bind the authority as to the other 3 or 4.PCNs. This seems to me to demonstrate on the face of it an unsustainable inconsistency. If the reason for the cancellation of one had been in fact because it was procedurally deficient, then pursuing other procedurally proper PCNs may have been a defensible,  even if a harsh decision. But to accept the same representations on the same facts for one of 5 PCNs and not apply that discretion to the other PCNs appears capricious and suggests that there has not been a considered and fair exercise of that discretion at all. (Barnet Council dishing out goodwill and then using it against the person they gave it to; nice move)
I allow the appeal on that basis.

Mr Mustard agrees with the Adjudicator. Parking tickets simply should not be issued during any period when a valid permit is in existence and the information should be on the handheld equipment of the traffic wardens, if they can have details of who has paid-by-phone they can equally have details of who holds a permit of any type. That would be truly providing a service.

Mr Mustard was interested in the way in which reminders are issued. he notes the statement on the application form, highlighted in yellow on the form above, that all reminders are, since at least June 12 when this form was updated, sent by email and thought that could well be why so many residents were not finding out about their renewal as they either didn't have email, hadn't told the council of an email address or didn't know this was the new policy because it had not been communicated to them. Mr Mustard made enquiry of the parking section at the council (they are getting quite used to his enquiries) and rapidly received the information that he had sought:

Dear Mr Mustard

The policy is to issue reminders by post. They are sent approximately one month before the permit holders current permit expires. I have amended the application form to remove the references to email reminders and have requested the permits department upload a new electronic copy to the Barnet website.

Many thanks for pointing this out to me.

Kind regards

Mr Mustard suggests that you go outside now and look at the permit on your car, and the tax disc whilst you are about it, and check that you are up to date. You might as well check your insurance and your MOT as well and did you know that a photocard driver's licence is only valid for 10 years and if that has expired you are breaking the law. We don't want the twitter personage @MPSBarnet talking to you in a non-social capacity because he won't be as funny as usual.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Update Thursday 7 March 2013

another case at PATAS yesterday at which you have to laugh but it could be you!

I have dealt with this Appeal throughout in the absence of the parties. I adjourned consideration from 05 February 2013 to allow the Appellant to produce evidence of Council Tax paid to LB Barnet and for the Authority to confirm or refuse the suggestion. They have done neither.

Mr M has been placed into a bureaucratic impasse by the Authority. In a letter to him in response to a request for a resident's parking permit, they informed him that he did not live within the Borough so could not be issued with a permit by them. He found this a surprising statement given that he has been paying them substantial sums of Council Tax and on 19 October 2012 they were pleased to accept £3,575 from him in connection with construction work at his premises. His documents bear this out. 

When he raised this in his representations to the Authority following the issue of the Penalty Charge Notice ("PCN") he was informed in the Notice of Rejection in a letter under the banner "Barnet London Borough" that he was advised to "report the matter to barnet council". One presumes he thought that is what he was doing.

Mr. M clearly is a resident (or else the Authority has taken considerable sums from him to which it is not entitled) and able to apply for a permit. The location here was round the corner from his house and in the Borough. I find that enforcement of this Penalty Charge Notice is an abuse of process. The contravention and its enforcement cannot be sustained and I allow the Appeal on that basis.

and another case yesterday on the subject of permit renewal

This is a personal appeal attended by the Appellant's representative, Mr S. The Enforcement Authority did not appear and was not represented.
Mr S explained to me that the Appellant, who had resided at the same address for some four years, and was the holder of a resident's permit, had regularly received renewal reminders from the Enforcement Authority, but that the Appellant had not received such a reminder for 2012. The permit had expired and was not renewed until after the Penalty Charge Notice had been issued.

It was explained to me that the receipt of a renewal reminder is an essential prerequisite of renewal, as this would have included a unique reference number which must in input on-line to trigger the issue of a new permit. The Enforcement Authority's evidence does not indicate that any reminder had, in fact, been sent.

Whilst it is the primary responsibility of the motorist to ensure that he renews his permit, it does seem that, in this case, the Enforcement Authority must assume some responsibility for the Appellant's failure to renew on time and, in these circumstances, I consider that there are compelling reasons for the Enforcement Authority to consider the cancellation of the Notice to Owner.

and further information has reached Mr Mustard that whilst Mr McArdle was here as the interim parking manager (before he wandered off to NSL of all places after the award of the contract) was when the traffic wardens were instructed to stop allowing a week or two of grace to an expired permit to allow for delays in the post and to take the pressure off the renewals department who suffered, and still do almost every week, numerous computer system breakdowns. This also affects the ability of residents to renew on-line and then they ring up and moan at customer services or the parking permit team. Time for the new temporary parking manager to give clear instructions to NSL as to how he wants them to behave. It would be so much easier for him if he was in direct control of the staff.

Outsourcing changes the council's problem, it doesn't fix them.

Mr Mustard

Not credit card worthy

There seem to be an infinite number of things wrong at Barnet Council with even the simplest administrative tasks seemingly beyond the ability of management.

Take "Residents Permits" for example (let's not mention the missing apostrophe as there is a grave shortage of them at the council. It might be better for all concerned if the wording was turned around to be Permits for Residents)

If you cannot renew your permit on-line for some reason then you need a form to post in. This is available at this page on the Barnet website.

If you click on "Residents Parking Permit Application Form" at the right of the screen you obtain a form that is version 3.1 from December 2011, viz

Residents Parking Permit Application Form December 2011

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If you then click on the words "Residents Application Form" you get version 3.2 from June 2012

Residents Permit v3.2 June 2012

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What did you notice. That if you use the December form the price is £100 and not £105. Mr Mustard will leave you to decide which form to download print out and send in. (I expect the Tooting twister who is in overall charge of the website will leap into action and correct this error pretty quickly so the form may not be available from the council website for long - you can download it from here though - nudge nudge wink wink) (Mr Mustard has just remembered that Barnet Homes, a Barnet Council ALMO, have a subsidiary called "Your Choice" - well this is your chance to have a choice which you don't normally)

Did you want to pay by credit card? You can't. Parking has gone cashless (almost) you know. Now it seems to have gone credit card less as well. Look, here is an older version of the form in the middle of a long report.

Parking Permit Religious-Faith Duties

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So someone has decided that if you pay by post you must be such a luddite that you don't have a credit card. Is this reasonable or equitable? No, of course it isn't. Sometimes when you buy a replacement vehicle that is the only way that you can pay for the new permit as happened to Mr Mustard recently who then found his cheque book, knocked the dust off and wrote one out.

Is it right that you should then be penalised £5 because the council's systems can't cope? No, of course not.

Is a two tier pricing structure bonkers? Yes it is. A cheque costs nothing to clear and the credit card merchant will charge about 2% so if anything the person paying by cheque should pay less.

Have councillors collectively decided upon this new policy? Not that Mr Mustard has noticed.

Has there been an "Officer decision" recorded in a Delegated Powers Report of this new policy? Again, not as Mr Mustard has noticed. (Feel free to tell Mr Mustard is wrong and he will correct any errors).

Does this new policy fit well with the One Barnet key principles?

A relentless drive for efficiency? Doesn't look like it does it going back to a method that has been around since the 9th century and which was until recently being phased out, except in Barnet where it is being phased back in.

Delivering more choice for better value? Oh dear me no. Less choice is being offered.

A citizen-centric council? No, you must do it the way that some faceless individual has decided upon.

Can you add this into your parking review please Councillor Dean Cohen (I have dropped you an email)

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard