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PART 6
NON-PAYMENT OF PENALTY CHARGES
25 Interpretation of Part 6
| (1) | In this Part of this Act—
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“immobilisation device” means any device or appliance approved by the Secretary of State under section 104(9) of the 1984 Act;
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“penalty charge” means a penalty charge imposed under regulations made under section 72 of the 2004 Act (civil penalties for road traffic contraventions) or payable in respect of a penalty charge notice issued or served, as the case may be, under any other specified enactment and includes—
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| (a) | an avoided release fee within the meaning of subsection (6) of section 5 (Unpaid charges on unlawful release of vehicle: Road Traffic Act 1991) of this Act; and
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| (b) | any increased charge liable to be paid under a specified enactment;
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“specified enactment” means—
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| (a) | section 66 of and Schedule 6 to the 1991 Act (parking penalties in London);
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| (b) | section 4 (Penalty charge notices under Part II) of and Schedule 1 to the London Local Authorities Act 1996 (c. ix);
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| (c) | regulations made under section 144 of the Transport Act 2000 (c. 38) (civil penalties for bus lane contraventions);
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| (d) | section 4 (Penalty charges for road traffic contraventions) of and Schedule 1 to the Act of 2003;
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| (e) | regulations made under paragraph 12 of Schedule 23 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29) (penalty charges for road user charging);
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| (f) | regulations made under section 72 of the 2004 Act.
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| (2) | The reference in subsection (1) above to section 66 of the 1991 Act shall include a reference to that section as applied by section 77 of that Act.
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| (a) | a reference in any provision to an authorised person is to a person authorised by a London authority for the purposes of that provision and different persons may be authorised for the purposes of different provisions; and
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| (b) | where a person has been authorised to act on behalf of a London authority in relation to any matter a reference to the London authority shall be taken to include a reference to that person; and
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| (c) | where an agreement for this purpose exists between two or more London authorities a person may be authorised to act on behalf of all the London authorities party to that agreement.
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| (4) | For the purposes of this Part a penalty charge is “outstanding” if it has not been cancelled by the London authority who issued it, it has not been paid and any of the following circumstances apply—
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| (a) | the period allowed by the relevant specified enactment for making representations to the London authority in respect of the penalty charge has expired and no such representations have been made;
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| (b) | such representations have been made and—
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| (i) | the London authority have notified the person who made them that they reject the representations or the grounds of the representations, as the case may be; and
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| (ii) | the period allowed by the relevant specified enactment for making an appeal to an adjudicator in respect of the notification of rejection of representations has expired and no appeal has been made to an adjudicator;
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| (c) | where such an appeal has been made—
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| (i) | the appeal was unsuccessful; and
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| (ii) | the period has expired within which, under the relevant specified enactment, a statutory declaration may be made in respect of a county court order which enables the recovery of the penalty charge or an increased charge; and
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| (iii) | no such statutory declaration has been made.
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| (5) | Regulations under section 72 of the 2004 Act may modify subsection (4) above in relation to penalty charges payable under regulations made under that section.
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26 Immobilisation of vehicles
| (1) | This section applies where an authorised person has reason to believe that there are, in relation to the London authority by whom he is authorised, at least three penalty charges outstanding in relation to a vehicle which is stationary on a road in Greater London.
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| (2) | Where this section applies, the authorised person or a person acting under the authorised person's direction may—
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| (a) | fix an immobilisation device to the vehicle while it remains in the place where it is stationary; or
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| (b) | move it, or require it to be moved, to another place on that road or another road and fix an immobilisation device to the vehicle in that other place.
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| (3) | Subject to subsection (5) below, subsections (2) to (7) of section 69 of the 1991 Act (immobilisation of vehicles in parking places) shall apply where an immobilisation device is fixed to a vehicle in accordance with this section as it applies where an immobilisation device has been fixed to a vehicle in accordance with that section, except that in subsection (4)(a) of that section the reference to “the penalty charge payable in respect of the parking” is substituted by a reference to “the outstanding penalty charges”.
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| (4) | Subject to subsection (5) below, section 70 of the 1991 Act (which makes exemptions from the operation of the said section 69) shall apply in relation to the fixing of immobilisation devices under this section, and where it so applies, references to section 69(1) of that Act shall be taken to be references to subsection (1) above.
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| (5) | The references in subsections (3) and (4) above to subsections (2) to (7) of section 69 of the 1991 Act and section 70 of the 1991 Act shall include references to any equivalent provisions replacing those subsections made by virtue of regulations under section 79 of the 2004 Act (immobilisation of vehicle where penalty charge payable).
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| (6) | A person who intentionally obstructs a person exercising any power conferred on him under this section is guilty of an offence.
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| (7) | A person guilty of an offence under subsection (6) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
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27 Removal of vehicles
| (1) | This section applies where an authorised person has reason to believe that there are, in relation to a London authority by whom he is authorised, at least three penalty charges outstanding in relation to a relevant vehicle which is stationary on a road in Greater London.
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| (2) | Where this section applies, the authorised person or a person acting under the authorised person's direction, may remove the vehicle and deliver it to a London authority or to a person authorised by a London authority to keep vehicles so removed (a “custodian”).
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| (3) | Where a vehicle has been removed and delivered into the custody of a custodian in accordance with subsection (2) above, a London authority or the custodian may (whether or not any claim is made under section 30 (Taking possession of a vehicle) or 31 (Claim by the owner of a vehicle after its disposal) of this Act) recover from the person who was the owner of the vehicle when the vehicle was removed—
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| (a) | all penalty charges that are outstanding in relation to the vehicle and which are owed to any of the London authorities by whom the authorised person who removed the vehicle is authorised;
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| (b) | a penalty charge for its removal;
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| (c) | a penalty charge for each complete day or part of a day on which it has been held by the relevant authority or a custodian; and
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| (d) | if the vehicle has been disposed of, a penalty charge for its disposal.
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28 Disposal of removed vehicles and contents
| (1) | Subject to the provisions of this section, the custodian of a vehicle delivered to him as mentioned in subsection (2) of section 27 (Removal of vehicles) of this Act may dispose of the vehicle or its contents by selling them or dealing with them as scrap, as he thinks fit.
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| (2) | Where the owner of a vehicle has disclaimed all rights of ownership of a vehicle or its contents, they may be disposed of pursuant to this section at any time.
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| (3) | In a case not falling within subsection (2) above, a vehicle or its contents shall not be disposed of pursuant to this section before the end of the period of five weeks beginning with the date on which the vehicle was removed as mentioned in subsection (2) or the said section 27 and until the custodian has, for the purpose of ascertaining the owner of the vehicle, taken such of the steps specified in subsection (4) below as are applicable to the vehicle and either—
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| (a) | he has failed to ascertain the name and address of the owner, or
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| (b) | the owner has failed to comply with a notice complying with subsection (5) below served on him by post or such other means as agreed by the parties.
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| (4) | The steps referred to in subsection (3) above are—
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| (a) | if the vehicle carries a United Kingdom registration mark, the custodian shall ascertain from the records kept by the Secretary of State under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (c. 22) the name and address of the person by whom the vehicle is kept;
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| (b) | if the vehicle does not carry such a registration mark, the custodian shall make such inquiries as appear to him to be practicable to ascertain the identity of the owner of the vehicle.
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| (5) | A notice under subsection (4)(b) above shall be a notice addressed to the owner which—
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| (i) | the outstanding penalty charges payable in respect of the vehicle;
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| (ii) | the registration mark and make of the vehicle;
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| (iii) | the place where the vehicle was found before it was removed;
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| (iv) | the place to which the vehicle has been removed;
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| (v) | the steps to be taken to obtain possession of the vehicle in accordance with section 30 (Taking possession of a vehicle) of this Act;
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| (vi) | that unless the vehicle is removed by the owner on or before the date specified under paragraph (b) below, the custodian intends to dispose of it; and
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| (b) | requires the owner to remove the vehicle from the custody of the custodian within 21 days of the date on which the notice was served.
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| (6) | The custodian shall be entitled to treat the registered keeper of the vehicle as the person entitled to its contents unless and to the extent that some other person satisfies him of their claim to all or part of them.
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| (7) | Where there is more than one claim to the vehicle or its contents, the custodian shall determine which person is entitled to the vehicle or its contents on the basis of the evidence provided to him.
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29 Recovery of penalty charges in relation to removed vehicles
| (1) | Subsection (2) below applies where a vehicle has been removed and delivered into the custody of a custodian in accordance with subsection (2) of section 27 (Removal of vehicles) of this Act.
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| (2) | Where this subsection applies, the London authority or the custodian may (whether or not any claim is made under section 30 (Taking possession of vehicle) or section 31 (Claim by the owner of a vehicle after its disposal) of this Act) recover from the person who was the owner of the vehicle, when the vehicle was removed, the penalty charges prescribed under subsection (3) of the said section 27 for—
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| (a) | its removal and storage; and
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| (b) | if the vehicle has been disposed of, its disposal.
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| (3) | Where, by virtue of subsection (2)(a) above, any sum is recoverable in respect of a vehicle by a custodian, the authority or the custodian shall be entitled to retain custody of it until that sum is paid.
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30 Taking possession of a vehicle
| (1) | A person (“the claimant”) may take possession of a vehicle (with its contents) which has been removed and delivered to a custodian and has not been disposed of under section 28 (Disposal of removed vehicles and contents) of this Act, if the conditions specified in subsection (2) are satisfied.
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| (2) | The conditions are that—
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| (a) | the claimant satisfies the custodian that he is the owner of the vehicle or that he is authorised by the owner to take possession of the vehicle;
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| (b) | all outstanding penalty charges in respect of the vehicle are paid to the relevant authority; and
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| (c) | any penalty charges in respect of the removal, storage or release from storage of the vehicle are paid.
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31 Claim by the owner of a vehicle after its disposal
| (1) | If, after a vehicle has been disposed of by a custodian pursuant to section 28 (Disposal of removed vehicles and contents) of this Act, a person claims to have been the owner of the vehicle at the time when it was disposed of and the conditions specified in subsection (2) below are fulfilled, there shall be payable to him by the custodian a sum calculated in accordance with subsection (3) below.
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| (2) | The conditions are that—
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| (a) | the claimant satisfies the custodian that he was the owner of the vehicle at the time it was disposed of; and
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| (b) | the claim is made before the end of the period of one year beginning with the date on which the vehicle was disposed of.
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| (3) | The sum payable under subsection (1) above shall be calculated by deducting from the proceeds of sale the sums that would have been payable under subsection (2) of section 30 (Taking possession of a vehicle) of this Act, had the vehicle been claimed by the owner immediately before its disposal, together with such penalty charge as may be imposed by section 27 (Removal of vehicles) of this Act in respect of the disposal of a vehicle.
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32 Representations and appeals
Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect with respect to representations against penalty charge notices and appeals, and other matters supplementary to the provisions of this Part of this Act.
33 Levels of penalty charges, financial provisions, etc.
| (1) | Paragraph 2 of Schedule 9 to the 2004 Act shall apply in relation to the levels of penalty charges under this Part of this Act as they apply in relation to the levels of charges to which that Schedule applies.
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| (2) | Until such time as regulations are made under subsection (3) below, Schedule 2 to the Act of 2003 shall have effect as though the reference, in paragraph 1, to income and expenditure includes income and expenditure in respect of this Part of this Act (including income from penalty charges and expenditure on administration and enforcement).
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| (3) | Regulations under section 88 of the 2004 Act may make provision about—
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| (a) | the keeping of accounts and the preparation and publication of statements of account, of the income and expenditure of London authorities in connection with their functions under this Part of this Act; and
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| (b) | as to the purposes for which any surpluses may be applied.
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| (4) | In determining, for the purposes of any provision of this Act, whether a penalty charge has been paid before the end of a particular period, it shall be taken to be paid when it is received by the London authority concerned.
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