Hospital staff parking fines

dweeb5

I understand that Balfour Beatty are a third party, but I have signed a form FROM Balfour Beatty (the form is covered in Balfour Beatty logos referrences etc) but the form also has the NHS Trust logo on it..?

The Car Parking Code document I have printed says:

'This code...is the code for car parking agreed between the Mid Yorks NHs Trust and Consort Healthcare. Balfour Beatty are only mentioned in the code as 'car park operators' and 'car park managers'

Just need to make sure I have my fact right before I stitch myself up... it's very hard when the dispute involves my livelihood which I trained hard for...

So they CANNOT use the word 'penalty'?

Coupon-mad

Balfour Beatty can't use the word penalty as it's against the BPA Code of Practice (read it to see what a PPC can and can't do under the Code). A breach can be serious as it can be reported to the DVLA.

The hospital basically shoot themselves in the foot by making it obvious it's a fine/penalty because it scuppers them if they tried a Small Claim. No person or company or body can penalise another, only a Court can.

As I said before we have had hundreds of these threads. Nurses everywhere are happily ignoring fake PCNs, or fighting back & appealing them now with the new POPLA procedure in place. It's your choice, ignore or appeal (then ignore) and I think the latter puts you in the best light for your job.

Errata

Why isn't the Union involved in this? Wasn't it part of the consultation about staff parking spaces at the start of the new build?

devonlad

From my dealings with the union they back down quite easily unless it's national. I got a ticket cos I had nowhere to park even though I got a resident permit. They reduced the resident parking spaces by half recently. So now now people that live on site have to juggle with spaces. Lots of accommodation but less spaces. Some of them are now carshare needless to say they remain mostly empty. I will continue to park there as when I paid my 120 pounds to park each resident had a space. I have had no letter informing me that I lost my space or a reduced offer on the permit.

dweeb5

So, my ticket was brought to my department by a Balfour Beatty security guard today. As i suspected. They were quicker than i though with it though!

So, I am writing an appeal right now. They ask for my name and address. Do i give it to them? Whats my grounds?? The fact that they can only claim for a loss??

dweeb5

Do I have to give them my address?

taffy056

dweeb5 wrote: »

Do I have to give them my address?

No you most certainly don't have to give them your address to the operative. just send them an appeal with 'Without Prejudice' in the header of the letter to the address for them, if they turn it down they must give you a popla code to take it further. They have to follow this no matter what they say to you, put things in writing, and only deal in writing with them, don't call or speak to them on the phone, don't enter any dialogue with the person on the site.

Coupon-mad

dweeb5 wrote: »

Do I have to give them my address?

Well you'd have to give an address for a reply - unless they accept email appeals in which case I'd stick with an email address for now.

And please stop panicking, they are not some sort of authority, this is a fake PCN like every single other person on this forum gets. Because POPLA exists then appeal it on whatever grounds you wish including the fact that you work there and have to park on site, there are not enough spaces allocated even though you pay for parking - and that's the bottom line.

You have already paid for the parking on site and not enough spaces are being allocated, staff are finding that they cannot avoid a problem here. And there is certainly no loss incurred by Balfour Beatty so it does not meet the definition of a charge in the BPA Code of Practice, the amount is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss. Clearly it is an arbitrary 'fixed penalty' which is a nullity in law from a private company and unenforceable even if they have it written into their parking policy. What does the yellow packet call it, does it - or the ticket itself - use the word penalty like they do in this job advert?

https://www22.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_balfourbeattygroup01.asp?s=OluWtZEbOmDPuRrDmj&jobid=59459,6047864823

''responsibility for the issue of parking notices & fixed penalty notices as appropriate''

You can also state that as far as you can ascertain, no proper site survey was carried out insofar as ensuring that there were enough spaces for staff who were issued with their permits. Is the Hospital mentioned here your workplace (look at the final pages)?

http://www.theparkingshop.com/downloads/hospital-brochure.low-res-jan12.pdf

''A site survey was carried out in the Visitor and Staff Car Parks which then led to the implementation of the following:-

- Welcome Signage for 3 key areas - Staff, Visitor Pay and Display and Visitor Pay on foot;
- Tariff Sign Boards to show tariffs for each individual car park;
- Various Information Boards which include Pay on Foot, Permit Holder Only, Short Stay and Blue Badge signage.
- All signs were manufactured using full graffiti laminate providing excellent resistance to chemical products, solvents, humidity, dirt and fingerprints!''




Errrrmmm... big deal, and what site survey was undertaken to simply count that there were enough spaces to ensure the staff on shift could normally expect to find a space? Never mind patting themselves on the back just because the BPA liked their bleeeedin' signs!! :mad:

How exactly did the BB security guy know to bring the fake PCN to your Dept when it would only have a car reg number on it? Do they have a database of cars & drivers/Depts from your permit scheme information (just wondering)? I believe they cannot get data that way, under the POFA they can only use registered keeper data from the DVLA. State that in your appeal as well - obviously there is a sheet of names and car reg numbers but it can't be used this way under the POFA I think, or maybe it's in the BPA COP, not sure which but I believe it's a breach of one or t'other for the Security man to appear in your Dept to try to hand over a PCN having consulted a random list...

Paperbird

If all the tickets are for the same thing ( not parked in a bay ) you only need one win at POPLA to have them all thrown out.
Are there any areas of the car park where the bays are not correctly marked out?
And if everyone takes it to POPLA then at £50 a ticket minus £32 to POPLA minus the Hospitals cut they might decide it's not worth going after the staff.

pauletruth

you need to join a union.

this is just me thinking but if they are trying to in force their contract with you. are they not in breach by failing to provide the service that your paying for. if the trust is passing on your data to them or the other way are they not also breaching the data protection act.

i wonder if your employer could be classed has harassing their employees.