County Court Claim From Civil Enforcement Ltd - £277 for 55 mins parking!! UPDATE - CLAIM RETRACTED!

Bear1978

Coupon-mad said:

This isnt private land. The other thread covers the issues and ANPR is not lawful.   

You should complain to the Council showing them the LGO Kent decision about parks operated there and tell them you will take the matter to the LGO because councils are not allowed to run public car parks as if they were private land (whether using a private operator or not).

Also show them what happened to Wycombe council who were banned by the DVLA for setting up ANPR!

The Deregulation Act 2015 banned ANPR enforcement by councils for parking contraventions on or off street.  The TMA 2004 applies and they should be running the park properly with statutory enforcement and not under contract law.

Then take it to the LGO citing the Kent parks decision and and the Deregulation Act and the Wycombe council precedent.

Thanks Coupon-mad. I've tried to search for that LGO decision but having real trouble. 

In the meantime, they've confirmed they own the car park land

Coupon-mad

The Kent LGO decision has been mentioned and linked before but no idea where.

Castle

This is on the LGO Website; (ref 17004169):-
17 004 169 - Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Bear1978

Cheers Castle! That is exactly what i need...i'm going to cite this on my complaint to the council.

Coupon-mad

I do wonder if a Town Council can be reported to the LGO but you may as well try.

Bear1978

Castle said:

This is on the LGO Website; (ref 17004169):-

Actually on reading this decision, i think it relates more to the fact that the PCN was issued under the Protections of Freedoms Act 2012, and the PCN was illegally issued as it was issued on land managed by KCC, not private land. I dont think this relates to my situation unfortunately.

Shame as that document got me excited!

Coupon-mad

Yes, but the same is true of a CEL PCN...that will probably have mentioned the POFA or keeper liability on the back.

Bear1978

Hi, i wondered if you could review my complaint email to Swanley council, is this good enough?

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to complain about the use of ANPR cameras at your car parks serving Swanley Park.

I have been issued with a court claim from your private contract Civil Enforcement Ltd for the amount of £277.57 due to an unpaid parking ticket of £1 on 16/12/2020.

I have been appealing the PCN due to the lack of prominent signage detailing the new parking system that was introduced in April 20202. My visit to the park in December 2020 was for just 55 minutes and it was my first time at the park following the new parking restrictions. I am not a local resident and i was not aware that the new ANPR enforcement for parking was introduced. Due to the signage not being prominent, i didn’t realise the car park was now charging to park.

Since dealing with the PCN appeal, i have since learned that the LGO has previously found in favour of a member of the public that received a PCN at Lullingston County Park, managed by Kent County Council. In the LGO decision, which i have attached, it says: “The Council did not use the correct process to issue a parking penalty to Mr X. This is significant fault. This affects other members of the public too and we therefore find it appropriate to consider any wider injustice”.

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 form of ‘Keeper liability’ specifically excludes local authority land managed under the civil or criminalised regimes (it applies only to “relevant land”, which does not include highways maintainable at the public expense, parking provided by a traffic authority (which includes local authorities) and any land on which parking is controlled by statute). Paragraphs 1,2 and 3 of Schedule 4, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 specifically pertains to this.

The Deregulation Act (2015) also prevents the use of private firms to use ANPR by local authorities to issue PCNs by post and i would suggest that you seriously review the legal viability of using Civil Enforcement Ltd to issue such PCNs via ANPR.

I would like to directly ask Swanley Council why they continue to illegally use Civil Enforcement Ltd’s ANPR system to enforce parking fines via post for their car parks at Swanley park.

I would also request that Swanley Council instruct Civil Enforcement Ltd to retract their court claim to recover their claim of £277.57, i will strenuously defend my case on the grounds as explained in this email.

Yours faithfully,

Bear1978

sorry just spotted so spelling mistakes...here's a corrected version

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to complain about the use of ANPR cameras at your car parks serving Swanley Park.

I have been issued with a court claim from your private contractor Civil Enforcement Ltd for the amount of £277.57 due to an unpaid parking ticket of £1 on 16/12/2020.

I have been appealing the PCN due to the lack of prominent signage detailing the new parking system that was introduced in April 2020. My visit to the park in December 2020 was for just 55 minutes and it was my first time at the park following the new parking restrictions. I am not a local resident and I was not aware that the new ANPR enforcement for parking was introduced. Due to the signage not being prominent, i didn’t realise the car park was now charging to park.

Since dealing with the PCN appeal, I have since learned that the LGO has previously found in favour of a member of the public that received a PCN at Lullingston County Park, managed by Kent County Council. In the LGO decision, which I have attached, it says: “The Council did not use the correct process to issue a parking penalty to Mr X. This is significant fault. This affects other members of the public too and we therefore find it appropriate to consider any wider injustice”.

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 form of ‘Keeper liability’ specifically excludes local authority land managed under the civil or criminalised regimes (it applies only to “relevant land”, which does not include highways maintainable at the public expense, parking provided by a traffic authority (which includes local authorities) and any land on which parking is controlled by statute). Paragraphs 1,2 and 3 of Schedule 4, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 specifically pertains to this.

The Deregulation Act (2015) also prevents the use of private firms to use ANPR by local authorities to issue PCNs by post and I would suggest that you seriously review the legal viability of using Civil Enforcement Ltd to issue such PCNs via ANPR.

I would like to directly ask Swanley Council why they continue to illegally use Civil Enforcement Ltd’s ANPR system to enforce parking fines via post for their car parks at Swanley park.

I would also request that Swanley Council instruct Civil Enforcement Ltd to retract their court claim to recover their claim of £277.57, I will strenuously defend my case on the grounds as explained in this email.

Yours faithfully,

Coupon-mad

Unless you’ve already blown this  as part of your appeal and CEL know who was driving, I’d remove any clue as to who parked/was driving (so all sentences about “how long I stayed and I didn’t realise/ I wasn’t aware...”

and I’d add the following to that first paragraph:

Secondly, that your contractor is suing registered keepers and telling them they are liable, contrary to the applicable law.