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CCTV parking fine councils fail to get permission to use new system
By David Millward, Transport Editor
Last Updated: 2:03am BST 31/03/2008

A scheme to allow councils to use CCTV footage when issuing parking tickets was in chaos after it emerged just one local authority has permission to operate the new system.

The rules, which come into force today, were intended to allow more than 200 town halls to use closed circuit television to catch motorists parking illegally.

Detailed legislation requiring local authorities to submit proposals to use CCTV became law in December, but campaigners said councils had been slow to act.

Just one - Medway in Kent - has acquired the correct certification from the Government to use the cameras.

Barrie Segal, who has helped thousands of motorists challenge parking fines, said: "Councils had a lot of time to put forward their plans but the fact they haven't done so shows that they know the system is flawed.

"But once they see the potential to get money rolling in, I am sure they will apply as fast as you can say MPs' expenses."

The rules, already in force in London, were supposed to be rolled out nationwide.

Despite the reluctance of councils to capitalise on the new powers, a significant increase in the number of parking fines is still expected as, in a change from today, parking attendants will be allowed to issue tickets even when the motorist has driven off.

As a result the first millions of motorists will know about a parking fine is when the penalty notice arrives by post.

In the case of the ticket being contested, an adjudicator will have to decide whether the driver or attendant is telling the truth.

Motoring groups claim the delays will make it almost impossible for a driver to gather the evidence needed for a successful appeal, especially if the ticket arrives some time after the alleged offence.

"We are really worried this will lead to a surge in 'ghost tickets', where someone receives a notice weeks after the event and has no idea what they were doing at the time," said Edmund King, the president of the AA.

PARKING FINE CHAOS STARTS TODAY
Monday March 31,2008
By John Ingham Transport Editor Have your say(24)

Motorists face yet more misery from today as a chaotic new system of parking fines comes into force.

Penalties will range from £40 to as high as £120 – rising to £180 for late payers – simply according to where in the country you park.

Drivers can now be fined under one of five different systems, depending on the local council, in a move described by AA president Edmund King as “a fine mess”.

Outside London, councils can choose to apply one of two different bands, while the capital can use three. Each band has two tiers of fines – a lower level for less serious offences such as overstaying at a parking meter and a higher one for more serious breaches such as using a disabled bay without a pass.

But the long list of higher-level breaches also includes parking more than 19in from the kerb or using a parking place designated for diplomatic vehicles.

In addition, motorists will run the gauntlet of yet more Big Brother cameras, with councils able to issue fines based on CCTV evidence.

Traffic wardens, to be renamed civil enforcement officers, will be able to fine people without putting tickets on windscreens as they patrol parking spaces – now called civil enforcement areas.

Instead, they will be able to put the demand to pay up in the post.

The changes are being introduced under the Traffic Management Act. It will replace the standard £60 parking fine outside London with fines of £50, rising to £75 if paid late, and £70 rising to £105 for late payment in Band A. Band B will have fines of £40 rising to £60 for late payment and £60 going up to £90.

Inside London, a three-tier system will see fines for the lowest-level offences range from £40

to £80, through a middle band to highest-level offences which will attract fines of £80 to £120, with late payment fines of up to £180.

The new regime is the latest assault on drivers, who already face about 6,000 speed cameras and pay around £42billion in various motoring taxes.

A full list of offences laid down by the Department for Transport reveals that drivers will be given stiffer fines for parking on double yellow lines or in disabled or residents’ bays without a permit or for blocking a driveway.

But they will pay a lower fine for overstaying on a meter, parking outside bay markings or waiting with the engine running.

Barrie Segal, founder of parking appeals service AppealNow.com, predicted that the new system will cause untold confusion. He said: “It spells pandemonium for motorists and is a licence to print money. I fear for the motoring public. They don’t know what is going to hit them.

“Those outside London are going to be dismayed when CCTV starts to be used to issue tickets. In London, cameras have been used in a completely arbitrary and cynical way to raise revenue. It has nothing to do with safety. It is all about money.”

Shadow Roads Minister Robert Goodwill warned that letting councils put parking tickets in the post would reduce the ability of motorists to contest fines.

He said: “If a driver does not get a ticket until a week after the event, he will not have been in a position to collect any evidence or find any witnesses that would allow him to challenge the fine.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said the system will be fairer by making the fine “fit the act”, and denied that the five-band system was confusing.”

The Transport Minister Rosie Winterton said: “Parking rules exist to help beat congestion and improve safety.

“These regulations will help make parking enforcement fairer, clearer and more open.”

... said Edmund King, the president of the AA.