Diplomatic Missions (Unpaid Parking Fines)

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Tuesday 15th July 2014 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mark Simmonds)]

In 2013, 5,662 unpaid parking fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations in the United Kingdom were brought to our attention by councils. These totalled £541,599.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has held face-to-face meetings with a number of missions about outstanding parking fine debt. In addition, in April this year we wrote to diplomatic missions and international organisations concerned giving them the opportunity to either pay their outstanding fines or appeal against them if they considered that the fines had been issued incorrectly.

Subsequent payments—including amounts waived by councils—totalled £197,423. There remains a total of £344,176 in unpaid fines for 2013.

The table below details those diplomatic missions and international organisations that have outstanding fines totalling £1,000 or more, as of 27 June 2014.