Councillors Told The 'Cannot Help' Residents With Parking Fines

New 'legislation' prohibits intervention in disputes with Council over PCN's

Further controversy over how the Council handles parking fines came to light this week via an email from a Brentford Councillor to one of his constituents.

Cllr Jon Hardy wrote, “I regret - I feel totally outraged in fact - that there has been a change in legislation recently that prohibits Councillors intervening in disputes over parking fines.”

He was responding to a request from a resident who had been issued a PCN for parking partly on the pavement in an area which it was permitted to do so. The resident appealed the fine and had received a visit from Equita Bailiffs demanding £168.16.

Cllr Hardy stated that he might be able to provide some advice but it would “purely as a private citizen with knowledge of the system rather than as a standing councillor.”

However, there appears to be a degree of confusion amongst the Councillors as to precisely what, if any, changes have been made to legislation.

Councillor Matt Harmer said, “My understanding is that there is no 'change in legislation'. A few weeks ago all councillors received an email from our head of Member Services pointing out that councillors had no 'magic bullet' that could assist with residents' disputes regarding PCNs - this was, I believe, a clarification rather than new legislation.”

He continued, “Not sure why it was felt necessary to send - more contacts regarding tickets, fewer officers available to deal with the enquiries, don't know. The situation is still, as Jon makes clear, that Councillors can advise on how to appeal against a PCN that a resident feels is wrongly issued.”