Hospital Complaint For Breach Of Equality Act 2010

bazster

Fergie76 wrote: »

I agree that I probably should leave the signage alone as per original draft. The reason I quoted version 3 is that I received a parking ticket for the same "offence" at the same hospital in 2013, so I know that between summer 13 and summer 14 the signs have changed, so IAW AOS they should have complied.

Great, so just add something along those lines to explain why you are quoting V3 of the CoP at this juncture.

bod1467

Fergie76 wrote: »

Thanks ampersand.

IAW, in accordance with...

Don't use such contractions/abbreviations in communications unless they are universally well known. (I had to take time to think what IAW could mean - if the recipient has to do likewise then you've diluted the impact you were trying to make).

Fergie76

Sorry peeps nothing new to report. Despite emailing both the DVLA and ICO with the Trust reply that no contract or empowerment agreement exists, neither have replied to me yet.

Should I reply to the hospital's last letter in post 386 or just send the LBA?

I think I will also FOI the Hospital for unredacted copies of all correspondence between themselves and all forms of APCOA.

Redx

I am not 100% sure on this but I believe that only your other half can send the LBC as it was her rights that were infringed

now as you said she was in hospital , I hope she is now better and out of hospital and prepared to do this for you, even if its really just putting her "John Hancock" on it

we know you will be driving it forward on her behalf, but I still think she needs to be seen to be doing it herself (even if she isnt)

keep the hospital admin numptys busy though

Fergie76

She is now home thanks.

Yeah, LBA will be in her name.

waamo

My crystal ball says the DVLA will be looking to wriggle out of this and fob you off. They won't want to lose the cash cow of selling details.

Fergie76

Just sent a follow up to CAB:

[FONT=&quot]I am somewhat concerned that I have never heard anything from Trading Standards regarding this complaint.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have report this company to the BPA, but they are not interested as they are not a statutory body, merely a members club. I have also reported this case to the ICO reference breach of the Data Protection Act and the DVLA.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Since my initial complaint, I have had further correspondence from the hospital and they have categorically stated that this parking company have no authority to operate in this car park, yet they still occupy this car park scamming parking charges from unsuspecting people on a daily basis. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The hospital have stated:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Point 6. Freedom of Information Requests[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“I have received a copy of two letters from the DVLA that APCOA have supplied to them dated 26 Apr 11 and 7 Jul 14. The letter dated 7 Jul 14, references and agreement dated 1 Jan 14, which is valid for 3 years from 1 Jan 14 to 31 Dec 17 (you will notice that this is in fact 4 years not 3). This appears to be an amendment to the contract and you have not supplied a copy of it or any other letters. Therefore as I requested in FOI 309-14, can you supply fully unredacted copies of all documents relating to the contract and amendments to the contract with APCOA FACILITIES MANAGEMENT (HARROW) LIMITED, company number: 03481526 and APCOA Parking (UK) Limited, company number: 02572947?”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]• The “agreement” referred to in the letter dated 7th July 2014 does not exist; this is an error on the part of the Trust and all parties will be informed accordingly. All documents relating to the contract with APCOA Facilities Management (Harrow) Ltd have been provided and no contract exists with APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Even if they APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd were party to the contract there is no authority in the contract to issue and collect parking charges:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1. “You say the contract does not cover charges for breach of contract and to see response 3. I think response 3 refers to the document entitle ParkingPolicy-April2010v3, it’s not too clear. I have looked at this document and still fail to see where it says APCOA can apply charges; again can you please point me in the direction of the relevant paragraph.” [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]• Paragraph 5.3 of the Trust’s Car Parking policy sets out that contravention of the parking procedures will lead to enforcement.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Paragraph 5.3 of the Trust’s Car Parking policy states:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
5.3 Contraventions to parking procedures and regulations will result in the application of the Enforcement Policy detailed within each site specific contract.[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As you can see above, they have already acknowledged that the contract does not cover charges for breaches of contract.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They are also relying on the Trust’s Car Parking policy which is years out-of-date:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“All I can see is a table at Annex 1 which states current tariffs. This relates to penalty charges, which we know you cannot apply. It also states that these penalties are only £15. Nowhere does it explicitly say that APCOA can charge penalty charges.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]• The Trust accepts that the Car Parking Policy is out-of-date and includes incorrect terminology. The policy is under-review and an updated version will be issued in due course. This version will be aligned to the Contract documentation, updated as necessary to meet current legislation requirements.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As a result of this new information, I would like Trading Standards to investigate and to take immediate action to stop this illegal practice by the NHS Trust and APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd.[/FONT]

Fergie76

Had a reply back from CAB:

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your further email dated 10/02/2015 in relation to your case XX-[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]123456789.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From your latest email it appears you are trying to determine if we have been informed of any action taken by Trading Standards in relation to the information you had provided in your previous correspondence.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]After reviewing the case details I can confirm that the information you had previously provided was passed to Hillingdon, Plymouth and Brent & Harrow Trading Standards for further consideration. The case details were also placed on a central data base that could be accessed by all the other Trading Standards authorities in the UK.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As indicated previously, although we work closely with Trading Standards, we are not an enforcement agency. Instead our role is to offer first stage civil advice; as such, we pass complaints of this nature to Trading Standards so they can evaluate whether or not enforcement action can and should be taken. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]It is worth bearing in mind that enforcement action can take a long time to process. In addition, a criminal investigation can be expensive; therefore another factor a Trading Standards authority would need to consider would be if the investigation would be of a significant benefit to the general public.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Subsequently, Trading Standards inform us that information provided by members of the public can become useful many years after it has been submitted. Furthermore, Trading Standards rarely provide feedback to members of the public. The reason for this is twofold: not only does it have the potential to hamper any ongoing investigation; but there are not always the resources to inform members of the public about how a complaint has progressed and (when applicable) what the outcome has been. The information is, however, valuable intelligence which allows Trading Standards to properly prioritize their activities.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With this in mind, we will update your case details and pass the information to the relevant Trading Standards departments; however it is important to note that Trading Standards would usually only contact you or this service about this case, if they needed further information for their enforcement purposes.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If you require any further information about this case; or the remit of this service, please do not hesitate to contact the Citizens Advice consumer service by return email or on 03454 04 05 06 quoting your case reference number.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your email.[/FONT]

Also received a letter from my MP, as he has received a response from the Department of Health. Nothing really much in the reply from the DoH, other than to reiterate the guidance that was issued last autumn and to say that although it was guidance and is not mandatory, the NHS expects all Trust's to implement it, unless there is a good reason not.

C-M, if you still read this thread, is there a Government body that I have not yet complained to, that I can complain about the breach of the EA10?

Who are complaints regarding EA10 normally address too, when no one else listens?

bazster

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. You can't complain to them directly, you have to ask your MP to do it for you.

Fergie76

Cheers Baz.