Fixed penalty notices

Summary

The Department of Infrastructure provided statistics on fixed penalty notices issued and appeals allowed for three financial years but refused to disclose the total number of appeals made or details on unpaid tickets.

Key Facts

• The department cannot provide the number of appeals made because they are not recorded in an interrogable system unless allowed.
• Providing the requested data would require substantial compilation and collation, placing an unreasonable burden on the department.
• Unpaid tickets are passed to the General Registry after 42 days, and the Department of Infrastructure no longer holds identifiable data on them.
• Appendix 1 details the breakdown of fixed penalty notices issued by offence type for financial years 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17.
• The total number of fixed penalty notices issued peaked at 8,007 in 2014-15 and was 7,985 in 2016-17.

Data Disclosed

• 2017-04-29
• 2017-05-12
• 8007
• 7088
• 7985
• 790
• 744
• 813
• 42 days
• 14-15
• 15-16
• 16-17

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3) practical refusal reason (b) referencing s8(3) - unreasonable burden of time and cost for compilation or analysis
• Section 11(3) practical refusal reason (a) - information not held or cannot be found after reasonable steps

Data Tables (3)

Full Response Text

page 2 of 4

Response to your request

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested; the reasons and statutory exemption sections are shown as part of the corresponding answers below.

1. (a) The number of tickets issued (by parking offence) and;

(c) & (e) the department records an allowed appeal as ‘cancelled’ and this figure is shown at the bottom of Appendix 1.

(b) We are unable to provide the number of appeals made. Appeals are received in many different formats, and are not recorded in any system that can be interrogated, unless the appeal is allowed, at which time it is entered onto a system for the purpose of processing; this is why we are able to answer question 1(c) and not this one.

You may wonder why we are unable to supply this, but were able to inform Tynwald. The information supplied to Tynwald was by calendar year and required a substantial number of hours of analysis and collation to get the answer, for the reasons given above. The information you have requested has a different set of parameters, which would require the whole process to be carried out again. This would place an unreasonable burden on the department in terms of time and cost; as you will see below, the Act makes provision for this.

Under section 11(3) practical refusal reason (b) of the Act referencing s8(3), the Act states that “a public authority is not required to create or derive information from the information that it holds; undertake research into, or analysis of, information that it holds; or undertake substantial compilation or collation of information that it holds”

(d) The Department is not involved in the fixed penalty process beyond 42 days, when any unpaid tickets are automatically passed to General Registry via a computer system. At this stage the categories assigned to the tickets are changed and are not identifiable as unpaid or written off. The responsibility for the collection or subsequent writing off of tickets lies with General Registry and not the Department of Infrastructure. You may wish to consider contacting General registry direct or put a new Freedom of Information Request in to them if you believe they may be able to supply further information, which you can do through the Government FOI page at the link below.

https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/freedom-of-information/

Under sections 11(3) practical refusal reason (a) of the Act, in this instance the Department does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find any specific information to answer your question.

APPENDIX 1 Breakdown of FPNs issued in each of the last 3 financial years, by offence Description of Offence 14-15 15-16 16-17 Parking vehicle in prohibited or restricted area or a road (e.g. school entrance, yellow box) 17 15 4 Parking vehicle on prohibited or restricted road (e.g. “yellow lines” or “clearway” 700 750 761 Causing a vehicle to rest within 7m of junction 96 87 47 Parking on a parking place reserved for disabled persons 113 164 117 Parking on a parking place which is a taxi rank 75 78 26 Parking on a bus stop 35 36 67 Parking on other parking place reserved for another vehicle or class of vehicles 219 196 213 Failing to display disc in disc zone 1190 771 701 Displaying incorrect time on parking disc 457 322 349 Parking for longer than permitted in disc zone 2584 2214 2986 Parking for longer than permitted in car park 175 150 174 Parking incorrectly in parking place 92 71 72 Parking incorrectly in a car park 85 33 5 Parking wholly or partly on footway or central reservation 121 92 67 Causing a vehicle to stand on a road so as to cause unnecessary obstruction 55 48 34 Parking in a parking place during a prohibited time 3 1 3 Double parking 5 2 3 Parking on a carriageway adjacent to a dropped footway, cycle path, cycle track or verge 7 16 30 Failure to exhibit vehicle licence 1743 1805 2026 Failure to display registration mark 4 3 4 Failure to display registration mark in manner prescribed by regulations 11 10 3 Displaying registration mark which is obscured or not easily distinguishable 1 1 1 Other 6 4 8 Void (e.g.) issued for test or training purposes, officer commenced writing incorrectly etc. 213 219 284 TOTAL 8007 7088 7985 Appeals allowed(calculated by FPN cancelled) 790 744 813

APPENDIX 2

04.4 Parking on other parking place reserved for another vehicle or class of vehicles This could relate to a Reserved, Private or other parking place covered by a Traffic Regulation Order. • Check if vehicle is displaying a relevant permit or does it meet the criteria for the specific parking place;
• If not, take photographs of offence • Issue the fixed penalty notice.

05.1 Failing to display disc in disc zone • Check the vehicle to ensure that no other notes, paperwork or disc present.
Note if anything appears to have fallen off the dashboard.
• If none, take photographs of offence. • Record in notebook – continue with your beat, if possible return to the area after 15 mins has elapsed. • Check signage is sufficiently clear and correct.
• Check road markings are sufficiently visible, if applicable.
• If not, take photographs of poor signage and report to Parking Administration using Defect Report Form • If all signage correct, issue the fixed penalty notice.

05.2 Displaying incorrect time on parking disc • Check the vehicle to ensure that no other notes, paperwork or disc present
• If none, take photographs of offence • Note in pocket book and observe approx. 15 minutes. • Check signage is sufficiently clear and correct.
• Check road markings are sufficiently visible, if applicable.
• If not, take photographs of poor signage and report to Parking Administration using Defect Report Form.

When clocks go forward or back due to daylight saving, officers will take this into account for a period of 2 weeks after the clocks change. After this period, the driver should use the review process to eliminate those genuine cases.

05.3 Parking for longer than permitted in disc zone • Check signage for restriction of waiting applicable and whether sufficiently clear and correct.
• If not, take photograph of poor signage and report to Administration using 11.1 Failure to exhibit vehicle licence • Check vehicle thoroughly to ensure that the disc has not fallen off windscreen • Radio Parking Administration to confirm status • If valid vehicle licence held, issue pre- printed advisory notice
• If vehicle licence has expired, take photographs of offence • Issue fixed penalty notice • If Parking Administration unavailable, issue fixed penalty notice.

Please allow a 2 week grace period after expiry of vehicle licence before issuing a fixed penalty.

11.2 Failure to display a registration mark • Check tax disc
• Check with Parking Administration.
• If no plates, issue fixed penalty notice. • If vehicle covered on highway, issue advisory notice. • If remains covered on the highway after advisory has previously been issued, issue fixed penalty. (You may need to lift cover to confirm vehicle registration, which is acceptable as the vehicle is on the public highway).

11.3 Failure to display registration mark in manner prescribed by regulations • Check with Parking Administration if advice required. • Issue advisory notice or fixed penalty notice.

Please see notes regarding vehicle registration (number) plates on page 12.

11.4 Displaying registration mark which is obscured or not easily distinguishable • Check with Parking Administration if advice required • Issue advisory notice or fixed penalty notice.

12.2 Other (specify) Parking Controllers are unable to issue for this offence but should refer issue to Parking Administration or a Traffic warden for advice if necessary.

Disc Changing Exercises

Intention – To identify vehicles and drivers who park in a disc zone, display a time of arrival and later alter the time on the clock to give the impression they are still parked lawfully.

Parking Controllers undertaking a “Clocking Operation” should make notes in their note book.

Note the following;

• Time of arrival in the street • Check signage and lineage is correct • Registration number and type of vehicle • Vehicle position • Time vehicle first seen • Time as stated on the disc • On returning to the location complete the same procedure noting the details in the note book.
• If it is apparent that a parking disc has been altered and the vehicle remains in the same location then issue a fixed penalty notice for an offence of 05.3 • Record on FPN relevant details to support prosecution.

It is important not to allow a period in excess of the no return period (usually 2 hours) to lapse during any return visit and noted sighting of the vehicle. If this happens, the driver can claim that they left the parking place immediately after you sighted the vehicle and returned immediately before you returned to the area.

APPENDIX 3 Overhanging hedges and vegetation OV1 Hedge cutting For the purpose of this policy the definition of a “hedge” is taken to mean any roadside boundary other than a fence or wall, which periodically needs cutting back to stop the vegetation growing over the public highway. There is no legal duty on the Department to cut hedges. The duty is on the land owner. The Department does not carry out the cutting of hedges to keep the island looking tidy. It will carry out cutting for road safety purposes at highway junctions, where the sight lines must be kept clear of vegetation for a maximum distance of fifty metres either side of the junction, and where vegetation is overgrowing footways to the extent that pedestrians are forced onto the carriageway or where the highway signage is obscured.
In all other cases where the Department considers that a hedge, tree, shrub or other vegetation endangers or obstructs the passage of any traffic, or obstructs or interferes with the view of drivers of vehicles, the Division may serve notice on the landowner.

On-street parking P1 General application It is the policy of the Department to introduce Disc Parking Zones (DPZ) in residential areas which require traffic management solutions. Traffic management solutions are used to assist traffic flow, road safety, minimise commuter parking or to regulate parking. The introduction of a DPZ requires a traffic regulation order which must follow the statutory procedure.

P2.7 Reserved parking Reserved parking places may be allocated to assist people who live in an area of parking difficulty who have a permanent disability or significant problems walking and who have no alternative off-street parking available such as a drive or nearby garage and who live in an area where on-street parking availability is already limited.
Applicants need to supply a letter of support from their GP and comply with the following criteria: • Only class ‘A’ vehicles are eligible for a reserved parking place (they are not authorised for use by motor homes or camper vans). • The disabled person or a member of the household must be the driver of the vehicle. • The disabled person must have substantial difficulty walking 50 metres. • The disabled person must be in possession of a blue disabled badge. • There should be no other suitable parking facilities available in the area, i.e. a garage or driveway. • There must be genuine parking difficulties in the area. • Applications from members of the emergency services must be accompanied by a letter from their officer in charge confirming that the applicant is on twenty-four hour callout duty and that they actually support the application.

Class ‘A’ vehicles are defined as follows: • Motor cars (including dual purpose vehicles, i.e. 4x4’s, pick-ups); • Motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars; • Tricycles (3-wheeled vehicles not exceeding 500 kg unladen weight); • Invalid carriages; and • Light goods vehicles (including car derived vans) not exceeding 2000 kg maximum laden weight and not exceeding 4.5 m in length. The cost of installing and removing a reserved parking space will be met by the Department of Infrastructure.
There will be a reserved parking allocation restriction of fifty per cent of the street. Once this has been reached parking will be reviewed and all reserved parking in the street removed to install disabled spaces for general use.
Should an application for a reserved parking place be refused due to not meeting the criteria, applicants are notified of their right to appeal. An appeal form may be obtained from the Highways Administration Services and must be submitted with any supporting documents within 21 days of refusal.
Appeals are considered on an ad-hoc basis by the Director of Highways and chaired by the MHK with responsibility for Highways.

P3 Douglas Promenade Walkway It is the Department’s policy to keep Douglas Promenade Walkway for recreational use by pedestrians and cyclists and to minimise vehicle use of the walkway. • Christmas parking – the Department is requested by Douglas Town Council to use the section of the Promenade Walkway along Loch Promenade running from the Sunken Gardens to the Pump Room. When parking is permitted it is restricted to cars and small vans and only permitted alongside the wall of the Sunken Gardens.
No parking is permitted on the sea side. All vehicles must reverse park and display a parking disc advising the time of arrival. Vehicle speed will be restricted on the Promenade Walkway at all times parking is allowed and Parking Controllers will patrol these areas.

• Parking at the War Memorial for special events – a long term precedent has been set to occasionally allow parking on the Promenade Walkway, for special events. For these events a small area adjacent to the War Memorial will be defined by fencing provided by the Department. The fencing is provided to protect the monument and out of respect for the memories of those people it was built to honour. There will be a cost to the organisers for setting up and removing the fencing.

P4 Motorcycles exempt – disc parking restrictions Motorcycles are exempt from all Disc Parking Zone restrictions. P5 Short term parking areas Parking is restricted during the working day along the frontages of shops outside town centre areas to encourage use by shop customers and delivery vehicles.
P6 Disabled parking The Department allows disabled badge holders to stay double the length of time allowed f

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