I had a response to this FoI request regarding "Penalty Notices" issued by APCOA for this one TOC (Southwestern). I think you may find the numbers quite staggering, considering that these PN's are basically unenforceable.
Dear b789,
Reference number: FOI2025929
Thank you for your correspondence dated 12 September 2025, in which you requested the following information:
Request:
Scope and Period
I seek aggregated statistics for Penalty Notices (PNs) issued under Railway Byelaw 14 at stations operated by Southeastern, from the commencement of the APCOA “Car Park Management Services” contract (ref. BSS03.1090; start date as recorded by you) to the most recent date for which figures are held. If easier, please supply figures by financial year.
Information Requested
• Total number of PNs issued.
• PNs paid at the discounted rate; PNs paid at the full rate.
• PNs cancelled (if recorded, provide simple reason codes and counts).
• PNs referred for prosecution; PNs where information was laid; PNs listed before the magistrates’ court.
• Outcomes: convictions, withdrawals/no evidence, dismissals/acquittals; and the aggregate totals of fines and costs ordered for those cases (annual totals only).
• PNs not proceeded with due to the six-month time limit under s.127 Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (if recorded).
Format and Handling
Please provide the data in CSV or Excel (FOIA s.11).
If some or all of the requested information is held on your behalf by APCOA or any other contractor, please obtain and disclose it (FOIA s.3(2)(b)).
If any part of the request would exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA s.12), please advise and assist (s.16) by suggesting a narrower extract you can supply—e.g., network-wide annual totals only.
Where you rely on any exemption, please issue a s.17 refusal notice identifying the specific exemption(s) and, where applicable, the public-interest factors considered.
Your request has been processed under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). I can confirm that we hold some the information you have requested.
Response:
Please find attached the requested data in Excel format, covering Penalty Notices issued under Railway Byelaw 14 at Southeastern operated stations from the start of the APCOA contract (1 April 2021) to the most recent available figures.
As noted by Southeastern, the organisation does not currently prosecute Penalty Notices via the magistrates’ court. Therefore, the following elements of your request are not applicable:
• PNs referred for prosecution
• Information laid before the court
• Court listings and outcomes
• Cases affected by the six-month time limit under s.127 Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980
Payment Breakdown Clarification
The spreadsheet includes a breakdown of amounts paid:
• £100 is the full rate.
• If paid within 14 days, the amount is reduced to £60 (discounted rate).
• If not paid within that period, the recipient has a further 14 days to pay the full £100. After that, the notice is passed to debt collection.
• £10 and £20 payments are administrative charges, typically applied to staff or repeat offenders who have previously had a notice cancelled. These charges help cover costs such as DVLA searches.
If you have any questions or require further clarification regarding this response, please feel free to reply to this email. To help us track your enquiry efficiently, kindly do not change the subject line when replying. Please remember to quote the reference number above in all future correspondence.
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Officer
So, since 1 April 2021, APCOA issued 146,070 Penalty Notices for alleged bylaws breaches on Southwestern car parks.
Cancelled: 31,207
On hold: 186
Current 'open'/debt recovery/no contact: 23,134
Paid: 91,443
Of those paid:
£10 x 72
£20 x 3,899
£60 x 70,084
£100 x 17,388
That's a sum total of
£6,022,540 paid in by the gullibles! Never mind those currently 'open'/debt recovery/no contact.
That's over £6 million paid for fake Penalty Notices to one single TOC.
