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22 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 20 (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 23 (Taking possession of vehicle) or section 25 (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 referred to in subsection (3) of the said section 20 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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23 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 21 (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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24 Payment of bond to secure release or removal
| (1) | If a person (“the claimant”) is offered the opportunity to do so by a relevant person, and the conditions of subsection (2) below are satisfied, instead of paying all outstanding penalty charges and any other charges to the relevant person, a person may pay to the relevant person a bond in the prescribed sum in order to—
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| (a) | secure the release of a vehicle under section 69(4)(a) as applied by subsection (3) of section 19 (Immobilisation of vehicles) of this Act (a “release case”); or
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| (b) | take possession of a vehicle (with its contents) under section 23 (Taking possession of a vehicle) of this Act (“a removal case”).
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| (2) | The conditions of this subsection are—
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| (a) | that the claimant satisfies the relevant person that—
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| (i) | he is in charge of the vehicle (in a release case);
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| (ii) | he is the owner of the vehicle or that he is authorised by the owner to take possession of the vehicle (in a removal case);
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| (iii) | he intends to make representations under paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to this Act in respect of the payment of the bond; and
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| (b) | no bond has been paid under this section on any previous occasion in respect of any of the outstanding penalty charges in question;
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| (c) | the claimant provides to the relevant person satisfactory and verifiable proof of his name and address and the name and address of the owner of the vehicle (if it is not him).
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| (3) | If a claimant secures the release of a vehicle or takes possession of a vehicle, having satisfied the conditions of subsection (2) above, the relevant person shall issue to the claimant a certificate in the prescribed form, stating—
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| (a) | that the certificate is issued under this section;
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| (b) | the date on which the certificate was issued;
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| (c) | the registration number of the vehicle;
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| (d) | the date on which the certificate expires;
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| (e) | the effect of subsection (5) below;
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| (f) | the effect of paragraph 2 (5) of the said Schedule 2.
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| (4) | If a certificate issued under subsection (3) above is being displayed prominently in or on the vehicle to which it relates on or before the date on which it expires—
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| (a) | no immobilisation device may be fixed to the vehicle under the said section 19; and
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| (b) | the vehicle may not be removed under section 20 (Removal of vehicles) of this Act.
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| (5) | A certificate issued under subsection (3) may expire no sooner than 14 days after the end of the period beginning with the date after which the relevant authority is entitled, in accordance with paragraph 2(4) of the said Schedule 2, to disregard any representations received by them.
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| (6) | A person shall be guilty of an offence, liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, if—
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| (a) | in giving a relevant person information required to establish whether a condition of subsection (2) above is met, he—
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| (i) | makes a statement which he knows is false in a material particular; or
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| (ii) | recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material particular;
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| (b) | he displays in or on a vehicle a false certificate, purportedly issued under subsection (3) of this section.
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“prescribed” means prescribed by the joint committee established under section 73 of the 1991 Act or any other joint committee consisting of all the London borough councils and Transport for London;
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| (a) | in a release case, a person authorised to remove an immobilisation device under section 69(4) of the 1991 Act;
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| (b) | in a removal case, a custodian.
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25 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 21 (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 23 (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 20 (Removal of vehicles) of this Act in respect of the disposal of a vehicle.
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26 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.
27 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 include 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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PART 6
MISCELLANEOUS
28 Fixed penalties under the Act of 2003
Section 9 (Fixed penalty notices) of the Act of 2003 is amended as follows—
| (a) | in subsection (2)(a), for “14 days” there is substituted “28 days”;
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| (b) | in subsection (3), the following paragraph is inserted before the word “and” at the end of paragraph (b)—
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| "(ba) | that if the fixed penalty is paid before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the notice, the amount of the fixed penalty will be reduced by the specified proportion;";
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| (c) | after subsection (7), the following subsection is inserted—
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| "(a) | “chief finance officer” in relation to a borough council or Transport for London means the person having responsibility for the financial affairs of the council or Transport for London, as the case may be;
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| "(b) | “specified proportion” means such proportion, applicable in all cases, as may be determined for the purposes of this section by the borough councils acting through the Joint Committee as defined in section 4(16) of this Act.".
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29 Minor amendments to the Act of 2003
The Act of 2003 is amended as follows—
| (a) | in subsection (10) of section 4 (Penalty charges for road traffic contraventions), for “appointing authorities” there is substituted “the borough councils and Transport for London”;
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| (b) | in subsection (1) of section 16 (Vehicle crossings over footways and verges) for the words from “the relevant authority” to the end of the subsection there is substituted “the relevant authority may serve a notice requiring the occupier, within the period specified in the notice (being no sooner than 28 days from the date on which the notice is served), to cease taking or permitting to be taken mechanically propelled vehicles across the kerbed footway or verge.”;
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| (c) | in subsections (4)(c)(ii) and (9)(b) of the said section 16 for “the council” there is substituted “the authority”;
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| (d) | in subsection (7) of section 17 (Removal of things deposited on the highway)—
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| (i) | for “If the highway authority proceed under this subsection, no sooner” there is substituted “No later”;
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| (ii) | for “they shall” there is substituted “the highway authority shall”;
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| (e) | in subsection (14) of the said section 17, for “removing it”, in both places where those words appear, there is substituted “removing, storing and disposing of it”;
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| (f) | in subsection (19)(a) of the said section 17, for “subsection (1)” there is substituted “subsection (2)”.
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PART 7
SUPPLEMENTAL
30 Obstruction of authorised officer
Any person who intentionally obstructs any authorised officer acting in the exercise of his powers under this Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
31 Liability of directors, etc.
| (1) | Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of the offence.
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| (2) | Where the affairs of the body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) above shall apply to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
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32 Regulations
| (1) | Any power to make regulations conferred by this Act includes power to make provision in respect of such cases only as may be specified in the regulations and to make different provision for different circumstances.
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| (2) | Any power to make regulations conferred on the Secretary of State by this Act shall be exercised by statutory instrument.
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| (3) | Any statutory instrument made under this Act shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
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