Greenwich Council in London had a 0% success rate when contesting driver appeals against penalty charge notices for over a year, according to the BBC’s Vince Rogers, who uncovered the fact while contesting his own notice. Between July 2022 and September 2022, the council did not contest any appeals, claiming “no evidence” for each. Adjudicators must quash such penalty charges. Greenwich said staff shortages had stopped them providing any evidence, but the situation had now been rectified. In the 2021-2022 period, councils in London and TfL had a 48% success rate in appeal cases.
Rogers challenged a fine for driving in a bus lane but found that others had successfully appealed against the same lane and that Greenwich had not contested any decisions for over a year, prompting him to investigate. The lane in question had no advance warning markings. Greenwich explained that they had been unable to submit evidence due to staff shortages, but added that the situation had been resolved with recent recruitment. The council has contested every appeal it has received in October.
Despite his successful challenge, Rogers expressed disappointment at not being heard in court to argue more widely about the fairness of penalty charge notices.
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