Free Traffic Legal Advice

You need to adjust it as reps come from the owner/keeper. I don't think you said in the first challenge who the driver was - it's best to mention a personal relationship and humanise things as much as possible.

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I am disappointed to receive your rejection of my informal challenge given I clearly explained the driver used the bay for far less than 3 hours and made an honest error with the clock. The driver was my mother who has a blue badge and she parked in the bay for only about 15 minutes.

Your daughter can authorise you to act on her behalf but this must be stated to the council otherwise they can ignore the reps.

I would include this:

But I must now hold you to the law on your assertion that the clock is required, as you state "these rules are set by central government".

I repeat the points of my challenge below, and I request you quote the regulation you rely on as my understanding is that the only such requirement is for an exemption to a yellow line waiting restriction.

No discount so yes you have nothing to lose by appealing.

They are relying on their traffic order. I'll look at this later and hopefully HC Andersen will too.

Register your appeal.

Thank you, do I copy exactly what you have said as my evidence on the appeal together with my explanation of the circumstances as below?

Contravention did not occur;
Procedural error.

Contravention...
In order for a council to meet its legal burden it must:

Have made an order one of whose provisions requires the display of a 'parking disc' in a specified position, and

Conveyed this requirement in the 'traffic sign' situated within or in the vicinity of the parking place.

'Traffic signs' must by law be either:

Of a form prescribed under regulations, or
As authorised or directed by the Secretary of State.

The traffic sign in question is of the prescribed form which does NOT include a requirement to display a clock.

The parking place may be time limited by order, but the authority have to find smarter and LEGAL means to discover how long a vehicle has been parked and not crudely import the requirement which exists only on yellow lines.

As regards Procedure error, Notice of Rejection  fails as follows:

To advise me of my rights of appeal;
To advise me correctly of the adjudicator's power to award costs;

I am the owner of the blue badge driving my daughters’ vehicle.  I parked on a disabled bay and I displayed my valid Blue Badge which is clearly displayed from the windscreen as shown in CEO's photographs.

I was parked for less than 15 minutes from 9.12am to 9.22  I had an appointment at 9am at Boots opticians in the Hildreds Centre Skegness, my journey to the appointment was delayed  because I called at an egg distribution centre to collect eggs for the local food bank on my way to Skegness and there was a problem there.  I arrived on Lumley Road Skegness at 9.12, parked in the disabled parking bay and displayed my blue badge and clock.  I was unable to see the optician and I was given another appointment for Saturday 8 March (photos of text confirmation of appointmentments attached)

I returned to my vehicle to see the CEO placing the PCN on my car, I was shocked as I couldn’t understand why I was getting the PCN he pointed out that the time on my clock was 10 am and it was only 9.22. He had only observed my vehicle for  1 minute before he issued the PCN I arrived as he was placing the paperwork in the sticky envelope.  It would appear that I did not display my parking clock with the arrival time of 9.15am correctly or accidentally moved the clock as I placed it in the windscreen as I was in a rush to attend the appointment.

Regulations 11 and 12 of the Disabled Person’s (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 sets out the requirements for the display of a Blue Badge. There is no reference in the Regulations to a parking clock or disc.

The only reference to a disc or clock is in the Local Authorities Traffic Orders (Exemptions for Disabled Persons) (England) Regulations 2000 where it must be displayed in circumstances where the display of the badge provides an exemption from a yellow line waiting restriction (see Regulation 8 ).

Therefore, no contravention has occured  I request that the PCN be cancelled.

Evidence
Blue Badge
Boots text appt 4 March
Boots text change of appt sent 9.17 4 March

options for this to be dealt with purely online

As I understand it, you can opt EITHER for a personal hearing, which is carried out by telephone or online video-link

OR for a decision on papers, where the adjudicator will decide on the written evidence provided by the parties either by post or online.

We always advise appealing via a personal hearing, as it gives the appellant the chance to answer any questions the adjudicator may have, or to raise a particular point(s).

I am the owner of the blue badge driving my daughters’ vehicle

Pl explain.

Only the person named on the NTO and Notice of Rejection may appeal in their own right. This is the registered keeper in this case.

My apologies, the appeal has been started again from my daughter as follows. 

Contravention did not occur;
Contravention...
In order for a council to meet its legal burden it must:
Have made an order one of whose provisions requires the display of a 'parking disc' in a specified position, and
Conveyed this requirement in the 'traffic sign' situated within or in the vicinity of the parking place.
'Traffic signs' must by law be either:
Of a form prescribed under regulations, or
As authorised or directed by the Secretary of State.
The traffic sign in question is of the prescribed form which does NOT include a requirement to display a clock.
The parking place may be time limited by order, but the authority have to find smarter and LEGAL means to discover how long a vehicle has been parked and not crudely import the requirement which exists only on yellow lines.

Procedural error.
As regards Procedure error, Notice of Rejection  fails as follows:
To advise me of my rights of appeal;
To advise me correctly of the adjudicator's power to award costs;

The vehicle was parked in a disabled bay and a valid Blue Badge placed on the dashboard together with a clock which is clearly displayed from the windscreen as shown in CEO's photographs.
The holder of the blue badge was parked for less than 15 minutes from 9.12am to 9.22  They had an appointment at 9am at Boots opticians in the Hildreds Centre Skegness, the journey to the appointment was delayed because they called at an egg distribution centre to collect eggs for the local food bank on the way to Skegness and there was a problem there.  They arrived on Lumley Road Skegness at 9.12, parked in the disabled parking bay and displayed the blue badge and clock.  they were unable to see the optician and were given another appointment for Saturday 8 March (photos of text confirmation of appointment's attached)
They returned to the vehicle to see the CEO placing the PCN on the car, they couldn’t understand why they were getting the PCN the CEO pointed out that the time on the clock was 10 am and it was only 9.22. He had only observed the vehicle for  1 minute before he issued the PCN  the driver arrived as the CEO was placing the paperwork in the sticky envelope.  It would appear that they did not display the parking clock with the arrival time of 9.15am correctly as they were in a rush to attend the appointment they may have caught the clock and accidentally moved the time that was showing. However, according to the Disabled Person’s (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000, using a clock is not a requirement when parking in a disabled bay.
I am making representations against this PCN on the grounds that the penalty exceeds the amount applicable in the circumstances of the case. My detailed reasons are set out below, but before going into these I would add by way of background that the car was parked in the bay, displayed a blue badge and was stationary for less than 30 minutes. They displayed the parking clock out of habit rather than by virtue of any legal obligation.  The other parking bays on Lumley Road have free parking with a limit of 30 minutes or unlimited for Blue Badge holders.
I understand that the County Council's traffic order requires a parking disc to be displayed in this bay in addition to a blue badge being displayed in the prescribed manner. However, the contravention grounds state that I was parked without displaying a disabled badge in the prescribed manner and do not refer to the parking disc despite this being the only issue between us. What the authority are attempting to do is to broaden the specified contravention grounds which refer only to a Blue Badge to include a parking disc.
This is not lawful because the grounds include two terms defined in legislation, namely disabled badge holder and badge displayed in the prescribed manner, and amending these for the council's own purposes is not permitted. That the TRO requires a parking clock is not at issue, the council's problem is how they may enforce this within the limits set by legislation and the Secretary of State's Statutory Guidance, and using this contravention description is not an option.

In addition, there is no requirement to display a parking clock stated on the traffic sign and this is because the sign used is of the form specified by Ministers in the Traffic Signs etc. Regulations and therefore compliant with the council's LATOR duties. However, for the same reasons as above it does not lie with the council to use this sign to convey a different  bespoke restriction i.e. that because you have placed a time limit on use of the bay this necessarily conveys an additional, non-prescribed, meaning namely that a parking clock must be displayed in the same manner as applies to yellow line waiting restrictions.
I have included attachments to two cases of a similar nature namely Mr William Watson - v - St Helens Council and Miss Michelle Dhillon - v - Leicester City Council.
There is also an Equality Act issue that the Council has a duty to consider. Regular limited waiting bays don't require the display of a parking disc clock. By making disabled people set and display a clock is treating them different to able bodied people who park in a regular limited waiting bay and it creates a situation where disabled people have a higher chance of making an error such as the clock falling off or being set incorrectly. Timings should be based on CEO observations the same as a regular limited waiting bay. There is no need to give the disabled the extra burden of setting and displaying a clock. I believe that the Council is unlawfully treating disabled people differently from able bodied people and I ask you to reconsider your approach to disabled badge holders only limited waiting parking places.

Attachments

Blue badge
Boots text of initial appointment
Boots text of rearranged appointment with date and time
Mr William Watson - v - St Helens Council
Miss Michelle Dhillon - v - Leicester City Council.

Is the Notice of Rejection addressed to your daughter?


The draft is repetitive (because suggested input has been taken verbatim, even to the point of including what were intended only as editorial comments, for example - but the authority have to find smarter and LEGAL means to discover how long a vehicle has been parked and not crudely import the requirement which exists only on yellow lines) and needs to be consolidated.

The Procedural Impropriety issues need to be fleshed out which isn't a problem.

Let's call the draft rough and refine it, there's plenty of time.

Get the appeal registered by the entitled person first.

Appeal lodged by my daughter

Case number QJ00023-2505 Acknowledgement

Explanation

Contravention did not occur;

In order for a council to meet its legal burden it must: Have made an order one of whose provisions requires the display of a 'parking disc' in a specified position, and Conveyed this requirement in the 'traffic sign' situated within or in the vicinity of the parking place. 'Traffic signs' must by law be either: Of a form prescribed under regulations, or As authorised or directed by the Secretary of State. The traffic sign in question is of the prescribed form which does NOT include a requirement to display a clock. The parking place may be time limited by order, but the requirement to display a clock exists in law only when parked on yellow lines. 

As regards Procedure error, Notice of Rejection fails as follows:

To advise me of my rights of appeal; To advise me correctly of the adjudicator's power to award costs;
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See what others say, but I'd advise waiting for the council to upload their evidence as there's a good chance they will actually now read their own TRO, realise they will lose and decide not to contest.

If they do decide to continue and upload evidence, it will include the TRO that they think applies and you'll be better placed to flesh out your case once you've seen that.