Traffic Management Act 2004
Changes in Parking Enforcement from 31 March 2008
From 31 March the legislation covering how parking is enforced will change. Regulations made under the Traffic Management Act 2004 will replace the Road Traffic Act 1991.
What will this mean for the motorist?
Very little will change within the Royal Borough of Kingston.
- Parking controls and restrictions will stay the same.
- Penalty Charge Notices will still be issued for parking contraventions.
- Parking charges, including Penalty Charges, will remain the same.
- A motorist's right to appeal against a Penalty Charge Notice remains unaffected.
What will change?
- Parking Attendants will now be known as Civil Enforcement Officers. Their uniforms will change slightly to signify this change.
- Local Authorities will act under a new set of Regulations and Guidance rules issued by the Government.
- There will be a greater requirement on Local Authorities to publish their policies and procedures and to report on them.
- New powers will be available to Local Authorities to enable them to serve Penalty Charge Notices by post where a vehicle is driven away before the Notice can be served. This extends powers currently available to Councils to serve the penalty by post if the enforcement officer is deliberately prevented from serving the notice by threats or force.
- To reduce abuse of the Blue Badge scheme, which gives parking concessions to disabled people, Section 94 of the Act gives the police, police traffic wardens and local authority parking enforcement officers the power to inspect Blue Badges. (These powers have already been enacted and joint Police/Council enforcement in Kingston has started).
- Some timescales will change in respect of the appeals procedure and penalty charge notice process. All timescales will be set out in the relevant documents.
- There will be some minor changes to the Penalty Charge Notices and other documents issued by the Council to reflect changes in procedures and time limits. Clearer information about how to appeal will be included on the Penalty Charge Notice.
Why are the changes being introduced?
- The new legislation now applies throughout England and Wales. Previously the London Authorities acted under different legislation to the rest of the country. The new legislation will provide uniformity, however, most of the features of the 'new' legislation was already in operation in London.
- The legislation allows the Government to issue Guidance to Local Authorities in how they operate their parking enforcement and Local Authorities must, by law, have regard to this Guidance.
- The aim of the Guidance is to provide national consistency and provide a system that is fair to the motorist while remaining effective in enforcing parking regulations.
What is in the Guidance?
The Secretary of State's Statutory Guidance to Local Authorities on the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions was published on 14 December 2007.
The Guidance sets out a policy framework for Local Authorities parking enforcement. It covers a variety of topics including:-
- Policy and financial objectives
- Monitoring service delivery and effectiveness.
- Training of staff involved in enforcement, appeals and notice processing.
- The exercise of discretion.
- Enforcement procedures.
- Charge recovery procedures.
- Considering appeals, including the use of discretion.
- Reporting on enforcement activities.
The majority of the recommendations and requirements in the Guidance are already part of Kingston's day to day operations. Any other changes required will be introduced on or after 31 March 2008 as required.
For further details on the Guidance and the Traffic Management Act 2004 and the regulations relating to Parking Enforcement please see below.
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