Changes to parking fines in Cumbria are on the way because of new rules in the Government’s Traffic Management Act 2004.
At the moment parking enforcement is devolved from Cumbria County Council to each of the six districts. The current cost of a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) anywhere in Cumbria is £60, reduced to £30 if it is paid within 14 days of the ticket being issued.
Parts of the Traffic Management Act 2004 coming into force on March 31st this year introduce a distinction between the seriousness of parking offences.
For instance, parking on a double yellow line is, according to the new act, a more serious offence than staying for longer than you paid for in an off-street car park run by a local authority.
That distinction between more and less serious parking offences is recognised in different charges.
The Government is requiring all local authorities to choose between two new charging bands.
Band A would be £70 for more serious parking offences (discounted to £35 if paid within 14 days) and £50 for less serious offences (discounted to £25 if paid within 14 days).
Band B would be £60 for more serious and £40 for less serious offences, both discounted by half if paid within 14 days.
A special working group of Cumbria County Council and all six of the district councils, which issue the tickets and fund their parking operations with the proceeds, recommended that the county council should introduce band A for all of Cumbria. The county council cabinet today agreed that recommendation.
The new charging regime will come into force at midnight of March 31st. But the changes may not be the end of the story as the Government says it may change the rules again because so many authorities are set to lose money.
The cabinet report states: "Department for Transport has indicated that it is willing to reconsider the bands following a large number of complaints from local authorities nationally that their introduction will have a significant adverse impact on income with many authorities falling into a deficit as a result. Local authorities have been invited to submit evidence on the anticipated negative effect of differential charging."
Ian Stewart, county council cabinet spokesman for highways, said: "These changes will cost council's money, but they will mean lower fines for most people who get a parking ticket in an on street parking space or at a public car parks."
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