Council writes off £415,000 in unpaid parking fines

7:00am Thursday 28th June 2012 in Bradford Photograph of the Author By Dolores Cowburn, Bradford Chief Reporter

A Bradford Council parking warden tickets a car caught on double yellow lines A Bradford Council parking warden tickets a car caught on double yellow lines

arking fines worth £400,000 have been written off or cancelled by Bradford Council in the last two years, it has been revealed.

Stolen, foreign or incorrectly registered vehicles account for a chunk of the lost revenue, with written off or cancelled cash amounting to £415,320, based on an average fine of £60 for 6,922 tickets.

The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, come as councillors meet today to discuss the possibility of introducing free on-street parking to bring more shoppers in to Bradford city centre.

However, a Council report says the 20-minute charge-free period, championed by the Chamber of Trade, could cost the authority up to £90,000 a year and mean doubling patrols of wardens.

Members of the Council’s environment and waste scrutiny committee are recommended to abandon the proposals altogether or monitor use of the new pay-and-display areas and review them annually.

The new figures show that the Council issued a total of 34,972 parking charge notices (PCNs) in 2011-12, of which 69 per cent have been collected.

In 2010-11, it issued 45,926 PCNs, of which 72 per cent were collected. Motorists get issued with penalty tickets for a number of reasons including parking contraventions, parking on double yellow lines and overstaying in pay-and-display car parks run by the Council.

The Council revealed that the main reason the fines were written off, including 4,006 in 2010-11 and 2,916 in 2011-12, was due to failure to track down the owner.

That could be because the vehicle is of foreign origin, is not registered with the DVLA, is stolen or the DVLA has the incorrect details on record.

Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green, said some of the tickets could have been given out in error or to motorists who have since won appeals. He said the Council did not treat the parking enforcement or parking fines as a “cash cow”. “It is not simply there to bring in income,” he said.

“It is there to deter people from parking illegally or anti socially.

“The more important issue is trying to make sure people park responsibly and legally.

“I know there is a problem nationally with people who bring their cars over from abroad which have not been registered in the UK.

“I have not seen any evidence to say there is a particular problem with people switching numberplates in Bradford. I just don’t know the answer to that.”

He said that the cash raised from parking fines went back into the enforcement services, while additional money raised was used for highways.

“But it is not hard-wired into the Council budget because the ideal situation is that we do not hand out any tickets ever because everybody parks legally,” he said.

Paul Ratcliffe, parking services manager at Bradford Council, said that the lost cash was no worse than any other local authority.

Mr Ratcliffe said: “In terms of recovery of outstanding charges we cannot recover every single case we cannot trace.

“There are a number of reasons for that, mainly because we are unable to recover from the lack of details or they could not be registered with the DVLA. It is a national average and not something that is a concern, but obviously we hope to recover all the debts owed but we accept that we cannot recover them all.

“We are not any different to any other local authority and our recovery rate is actually a little bit higher than the national average. Think of the amount of foreign vehicles in Bradford and if they are in a bus lane there is no way of tracing them and they may not be properly registered with the DVLA.”

When the ticket is first issued, it is usually £25 and goes up to £50 or £70 after 14 days.

Comments(33)

jozieme says...
7:19am Thu 28 Jun 12

Apart from the reasons for non- payment like cars are stolen /. foreign etc. streets in the City Centre with double yellow lines are clogged with parked cars ie Duke Street to name one( on a regular basis.).. Since the elimanting of street wardens ,we no longer have any one organisation moving along the erring 'parker'.. it's astonishing that so much money is being lost because street patrollers are no longer employed in Bradford nearly half a million pounds would have been enough to pay a lot of wardens to keep the roads clear of illegal parking..

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Wakeywakey says...
7:36am Thu 28 Jun 12

jozieme wrote:
Apart from the reasons for non- payment like cars are stolen /. foreign etc. streets in the City Centre with double yellow lines are clogged with parked cars ie Duke Street to name one( on a regular basis.).. Since the elimanting of street wardens ,we no longer have any one organisation moving along the erring 'parker'.. it's astonishing that so much money is being lost because street patrollers are no longer employed in Bradford nearly half a million pounds would have been enough to pay a lot of wardens to keep the roads clear of illegal parking..
Reads like you are falling into the trap of using Common sense!
We are talking Local Government here you know.

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webess says...
8:17am Thu 28 Jun 12

Since the council took over parking enforcement it has become a grubby money making racket.
Bus lane enforcement is even worse.

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Mutha.Slimer says...
8:27am Thu 28 Jun 12

If vehicle is irresponsibly or illegaly parked, tow it in and crush it,simple, job done!

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whoflungdung says...
8:35am Thu 28 Jun 12

Another shambolic performance from a council that everyone knows is a joke!
Not a cash cow? Come on - who are you trying to kid!
My mrs recently had a ticket overturned. A warden watched her park her car, get a ticket and then leave her vehicle. From the shop my wife went to she could see the warden looking round her car and then slap a ticket on the windscreen.
So we had the inconvenience of writing to the council with a copy of the valid ticket which somehow did not correspond with the details trhe warden had put on the ticket.
Just another sorry episode to go with all the others about this dump of a city.

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Bone_idle18 says...
8:35am Thu 28 Jun 12

Untaxed
Uninsured
Unregistered
Unaccountable.

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Thee Voice of Reason says...
8:36am Thu 28 Jun 12

We don't see this as a cash cow but we are not giving free parking as it will cost us £90k.
What an idiots does he realise people don't forget what he said more than a day ago.

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mad matt says...
8:40am Thu 28 Jun 12

It always seems to be the same areas which are blighted by badly or illegally parked vehicles on a daily basis, working days especially. It isn't that the drivers don't know that they shouldn't park there, they just don't care because they are confident that they won't get booked and even if they do get a ticket they also know that if they 'dig their heels in' they will get away with it.
The parking warden service needs more personel on the ground and more 'teeth' to get rid of this problem.

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Apollo says...
8:49am Thu 28 Jun 12

I thought the so called Ring of Steel was supposed to identify and deal with cars that did not comply with tax, insurance, MOT, foreign registration, incorrect details etc?

However, most parking tickets given in Bradford will be easily over turned as the signage will be wrong.

The Council rely on people not being bothered to appeal.

The more amazing part of this story is not how much they 'lost' but how much they actually managed to rake in from suckers.

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BertSanders says...
9:05am Thu 28 Jun 12

Mutha.Slimer wrote:
If vehicle is irresponsibly or illegaly parked, tow it in and crush it,simple, job done!
Will this make the situation worse?. Why pay - put up with the aggravation and wait for the next write off. Council Tax also.
Unless punishment becomes more severe it will get worse.
Mutha may be right, although it may not yet be legal or infringe HR. We are too soft and understanding.

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count_cillla says...
9:12am Thu 28 Jun 12

so he'd rather lose £90k a year instead of providing free parking, instead of losing £200k in unpaid parking fines.
He could try to collect the £200k by employing more wardens... doesn't unemployment mean anything to him.... well suppose not he gets a decent allowance for his "voluntary" councillor role.
I'd rather lose the £90k to free parking and bring in heaps of people to shop into the city centre and create a spiral upwards ... more footfall, more profits, more shops, more footfall, more profits more shops until a high percentage of the closed outlets are taken up.... THEN review the free parking.

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count_cillla says...
9:12am Thu 28 Jun 12

so he'd rather lose £90k a year instead of providing free parking, instead of losing £200k in unpaid parking fines.
He could try to collect the £200k by employing more wardens... doesn't unemployment mean anything to him.... well suppose not he gets a decent allowance for his "voluntary" councillor role.
I'd rather lose the £90k to free parking and bring in heaps of people to shop into the city centre and create a spiral upwards ... more footfall, more profits, more shops, more footfall, more profits more shops until a high percentage of the closed outlets are taken up.... THEN review the free parking.

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Avro says...
9:28am Thu 28 Jun 12

This clearly sends out the wrong message and it clearly indicates that Bradford has a very serious problem with illegal drivers/cars, and has someone has already said.....

Untaxed
Uninsured
Unregistered
Unaccountable

Bradford = the Wild West of the UK

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webess says...
9:34am Thu 28 Jun 12

Apollo wrote:
I thought the so called Ring of Steel was supposed to identify and deal with cars that did not comply with tax, insurance, MOT, foreign registration, incorrect details etc?

However, most parking tickets given in Bradford will be easily over turned as the signage will be wrong.

The Council rely on people not being bothered to appeal.

The more amazing part of this story is not how much they 'lost' but how much they actually managed to rake in from suckers.
Indeed so.

If you go onto the forums on pcn's etc you'll soon see that Bradford council have a reputation for being cowboys in this field.

The signage and TRO outside City Hall isn't even correct FFS

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webshow says...
10:35am Thu 28 Jun 12

"If vehicle is irresponsibly or illegaly parked, tow it in and crush it,simple, job done!"

Yes and at the same time why don't the council put more hurdles to stop people coming to town so all the shops close. Then it would easy for the council wardens to wander the empty streets.

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webshow says...
10:37am Thu 28 Jun 12

"If vehicle is irresponsibly or illegaly parked, tow it in and crush it,simple, job done!"

Yes and at the same time why don't the council put more hurdles to stop people coming to town so all the shops close. Then it would easy for the council wardens to wander the empty streets.

Sometime I wonder about the the intelligence of people living in Bradford who make comments in the local paper. Does nobody get it - no cars means no trade means no shops can survive. I know the council don't get it. They are in it to rip people off any way they can.

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Albion. says...
10:41am Thu 28 Jun 12

webess wrote:
Since the council took over parking enforcement it has become a grubby money making racket.
Bus lane enforcement is even worse.
According to this it has failed miserably if that was the intention.

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ertnec says...
10:42am Thu 28 Jun 12

Its a shambles that dispite all the work giving tickets out that Bradford Council wipe of this dept. Are not Parking Inforcement officers trained if so why are so many tickets being given out wrong. Wages are being paid and tickets given out what a waste of time. We do understand that its a deterrant but its a bloody joke.

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Avro says...
10:50am Thu 28 Jun 12

Meanwhile the Council have very recently reduced the amount of free parking!

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citizen smith says...
11:38am Thu 28 Jun 12

So that's nearly three and a half thousand offences committed by illegal vehicles in Bradford each year? I'll bet these are not the only crimes being committed as well. Surely in this day and age the parking warden can check within seconds if the identity of the vehicle is correct? If it isn't, clamp it or tow it away rather than sticking a worthless ticket on it.
If Mr Green is not aware of the problem of switching number plates he should just take a look at the Caught on Camera section of the West Yorkshire Police website and look at the page after page of petrol station cctv pics of people stealing petrol.... and that's 'stealing' not the light-hearted term 'making off'. These people can obviously not be traced because of false registration. I'm sure he's also aware of the Police initiatives of free replacement of number plate fastenings on cars. I don't think they'd be doing that if there wasn't a problem.
If parking tickets are not a 'cash cow' as claimed, why have parking wardens been all over Saltaire and Shipley like a rash recently, while illegal parking seems to be far more of an issue in other areas? Easy pickings for payment I guess.

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a reasonable sort of chap says...
11:40am Thu 28 Jun 12

Ban all cars (except for disabled) from the city centre. Problem solved.

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beardedclam says...
11:58am Thu 28 Jun 12

a reasonable sort of chap wrote:
Ban all cars (except for disabled) from the city centre. Problem solved.
It's incredible how many of these "disabled" drivers there are on the road.

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Andy2010 says...
12:03pm Thu 28 Jun 12

beardedclam wrote:
a reasonable sort of chap wrote: Ban all cars (except for disabled) from the city centre. Problem solved.
It's incredible how many of these "disabled" drivers there are on the road.
I often see quite a lot clogging up the disabled bays at my local supermarket. Needless to say never displaying a badge and the ones that are tend to be driving Audi Q7's or Range Rover's.

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theoutsider says...
12:48pm Thu 28 Jun 12

Andy2010 wrote:
beardedclam wrote:
a reasonable sort of chap wrote: Ban all cars (except for disabled) from the city centre. Problem solved.
It's incredible how many of these "disabled" drivers there are on the road.
I often see quite a lot clogging up the disabled bays at my local supermarket. Needless to say never displaying a badge and the ones that are tend to be driving Audi Q7's or Range Rover's.
Parking in supermarkets can seriously damage your car !. Whoever decreed the size of a car park bay never considered the lazy lards who just pull up sling the car door open and could not give a monkeys if they stick a crease down your door the size that our old dustbin man ( remember him ? ) used hammer out the side of the dustbin as he slammed it on the back of his cart !. I dont advocate parking in disabled bays but if I am in a supermarket car park I will always park over two spaces. So if I am the last one in your not going to be able to park.

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Victor Clayton says...
1:48pm Thu 28 Jun 12

thats 9 tickets a day not being paid. A blind being turned for too long and now this city is going down the pan.

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Yorkshire Lass says...
4:03pm Thu 28 Jun 12

I would like to know who has authorised the writing off of the £415,000.00 in uncollected fines. Is there not one person who is employed by the Council with any gumption at all? If a list was made of the fine dodgers and put in a public place for all to see, I guarantee that someone will dob them in. The decent people of this city, i,e the poll tax payers, the insured, licenced and MOT'd, and all those who have paid their motoring fines must be incensed by this revelation and feel that everytime THEY are being taken for mugs by the dodgers with the help of the Council. Its time this was stopped.

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webess says...
5:01pm Thu 28 Jun 12

It's not unknown for parking wardens to write the registration numbers down wrong (yes I know it's a simple job).

How many of these unpaid "fines" are as a result of councils own incompetence?

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webess says...
5:02pm Thu 28 Jun 12

"Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green, said some of the tickets could have been given out in error or to motorists who have since won appeals. He said the Council did not treat the parking enforcement or parking fines"

Sorry Clly Green - they're penalty charges not fines - they can't be enforced through the criminal courts!

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Apollo says...
5:58pm Thu 28 Jun 12

webess wrote:
"Bradford Council leader, Councillor David Green, said some of the tickets could have been given out in error or to motorists who have since won appeals. He said the Council did not treat the parking enforcement or parking fines" Sorry Clly Green - they're penalty charges not fines - they can't be enforced through the criminal courts!
Bus lane ones can certainly be enforced through the Courts. Never ignore a ticket but appeal it.

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localydocaly says...
6:34pm Thu 28 Jun 12

simples !!! , go lift the car ,no cash no car ,weigh it in for scrap deduct the fine give the owner any remaining cash ,should get 90% of death traps of bradfords roads

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lanzaman says...
7:42pm Thu 28 Jun 12

What gets me is how people are quite prepared to just be illegal. Don't bother registering your car, or insuring, drive like a complete tw@! park where you like, claim benefits all you like, and get away with it all. What a complete mess this city/country is. Maybe if we al did it the regulars would realise that anarchy would suit them well. GRRRRRR!!!!

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pquick says...
6:15am Fri 29 Jun 12

come and live in canada,if you get a parking ticket over here and do not pay it you can not renew your road tax with out paying it.The road tax sticker is displayed on the rear number plate so the police can see if its been paid just by been behind you.which means no road tax sticker in force a on the spot fine

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yezboss says...
11:02am Fri 29 Jun 12

All very well issuing any penalty but if there is no effective enforcement it's a wasted exercise.

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