Draft Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022

Trudy Harrison Excerpts

Wednesday 27th April 2022 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Trudy Harrison)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson.

The regulations before the Committee meet a commitment laid out by the Prime Minister in the 2020 policy statement “Gear Change: A bold vision for cycling and walking” to give local authorities outside London the powers conferred in part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 to enforce contraventions of moving traffic restrictions. The powers have been commenced to coincide with the regulations due to come into force on 31 May.

The regulations before the Committee form part of a package: a statutory instrument subject to the affirmative procedure and one subject to the negative procedure. I shall refer to the former as the appeals regulations, and they are the ones we are considering. The appeals regulations consolidate the rights of representation and appeal in place England-wide since 2007 for vehicle owners who are or may be liable to pay penalty charge notices, or PCNs, in respect of parking contraventions and extend them to disputed bus lane and moving traffic PCNs outside London, the latter being defined under the umbrella term “relevant road traffic contraventions”.

Colleagues should also note the Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022, which are subject to the negative procedure. They are referred to as the devices and guidelines SI, if required. The instrument includes wider related provisions for evidence regarding penalty charge notices, adjudication penalty charge levels and income and expenditure.

The regulatory package being introduced under part 6 of the 2004 Act consolidates existing legislation and at the same time makes powers available to local authorities outside London to issue PCNs for contraventions of safety and critical moving traffic restrictions such as no entry, barred turns and unlawful entry into box junctions. Local authorities wanting to undertake moving traffic enforcement may from now apply for formal designation of these powers to enable enforcement to begin in practice by using CCTV cameras that have been certified by the Secretary of State.

We plan, as soon as practicable thereafter and with sufficient demand, to lay a further order before the House later this year. When using the powers, local authorities have a duty to act fairly. The regulations make provision to entitle drivers who are or may be liable to pay penalty charges for contravening certain traffic regulations, including the moving traffic regulations, to make representations to the enforcement authority and, if their case is rejected, to appeal to an independent adjudicator against the penalty charge.

The appeals regulations prescribe the information that must be given when a penalty charge is imposed about the right to make representations or to appeal against that charge and to prescribe time limits for each stage of the process within which both the motorist and the local authority must respond. They create an offence of knowingly or recklessly making false representations under the regulations or in connection with an appeal.

I can assure colleagues that the regulations merely extend long-established provisions for motorists wishing to dispute parking penalties, applying the forthcoming civil enforcement regime for moving traffic contraventions inside and outside Greater London. To create parity across the board outside London, we have also used this opportunity to repeal the bus lane enforcement regime in place since 2005 under the Transport Act 2000 to create a single enforcement regime that includes bus lane enforcement.

It was envisaged that this would happen soon after the 2004 Act was introduced. By doing so, we have removed some inconsistencies in the legislation. Motorists who challenge bus lane penalties will therefore benefit from representations and appeals provisions not previously available to them, which will apply to all contraventions. For example, they can challenge a penalty charge on the grounds of procedural impropriety. There is an express duty on local authorities to consider any compelling reasons that the motorist gives for cancellation of the charge; an express power for adjudicators to refer cases back to the local authority when there are no grounds to allow the appeal, but the adjudicator considers that the authority should reconsider whether the appellant should pay all or some of the penalty; and a requirement for the authority to respond to representations within 56 calendar days.

Bringing bus lane powers under the 2004 Act also enables Ministers to publish statutory guidance, to which local authorities must have regard, to cover all contraventions for the first time.

It should be noted that the affirmative SI provisions for appeals in connection with vehicle immobilisation—clamping—and removal—impounding—relate only to the long-established civil enforcement regime for parking contraventions and are not applicable to the forthcoming moving traffic enforcement powers.

I am clear that civil enforcement of moving traffic contraventions should be a last resort. If contraventions are preventable through other means, such as improvements to the road layout or signing, I expect that to be done before enforcement is considered. We will issue statutory guidance to ensure that local authorities use those powers correctly.

Before enforcement can begin in practice, local authorities must apply to the Department for an order by means of a letter to the Secretary of State. To ensure due diligence, designation will be conditional on local authorities having already consulted local residents and businesses on where existing restrictions have been earmarked for enforcement. Due consideration must have been given to any legitimate concerns.

Local authorities will also be expected to issue warning notices for first-time moving traffic contraventions at each camera location for six months following enforcement go live. That applies to any new camera location in the future. Those requirements will be enshrined in statutory guidance to ensure that enforcement is targeted at only problem sites, that road users clearly understand the new powers and that enforcement is carried out fairly.

Statutory guidance will also require the issue of warning notices, which are an opportunity to explain the benefits of compliance while advising that any further moving traffic contravention at the same camera location will result in a penalty charge notice, even within the sixth-month period.

I stress that the enforcement must be aimed at increasing compliance, not raising revenue. Local authorities will not have a free hand in how any resulting surplus is used. It will be strictly ringfenced for covering enforcement costs or specified local authority-funded local transport schemes or environmental measures. Local authorities will not have a free hand in setting penalty charge levels for moving traffic contraventions, for which banded levels are set in the devices and guidelines SI, in line with existing penalties for higher level parking contraventions, such as parking in a disabled bay.

As moving traffic and bus lane contraventions are of a kind, we are increasing bus lane penalties by £10 to align with those for moving traffic contraventions and higher level parking contraventions, such as parking in a disabled bay. That places equal emphasis on what we believe to be serious traffic contraventions while reaffirming our commitment to achieving the aims of the national bus strategy.

I commend the regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Trudy Harrison]

I thank colleagues for their broad support for the SI, and for their consideration. I will respond to a couple of queries. To correct the shadow Minister, I confirm that as the hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown rightly said, local authorities will be able to receive the money, but it will be ringfenced. We take seriously the need to do that in order to address significant concerns from Ministers and the public about over-zealous enforcement by some LAs.

Traffic enforcement is not about LAs raising revenue; its aim is to encourage compliance and to achieve the policy aim of improving traffic flow, with consequent benefits to wellbeing and the economy. Any surplus raised is strictly ringfenced in order to cover the cost of enforcement activity, LA-funded environmental measures and the local transport schemes that we have heard are so important.

[Lloyd Russell-Moyle]

I understand the ringfencing, but does the Minister not agree that local authorities could end up spending that money on transport plans such as subsidised bus routes in a different area of the authority, or an environmental plan in a completely different location? For the public, that is not a ringfence; it is a substitution of funding that would have been previously paid for out of Government grant that has been cut.

[Trudy Harrison]

Local authorities will choose to spend the money in accordance with guidance from the Department and the Secretary of State.

I think everybody will agree that the draft regulations are a vital part of the regulatory package, because it is so necessary to enable sensible and fair traffic management, as we have heard. That is broadly what local authorities are calling for; they want these new powers. On the new burdens assessment, it has been agreed with the Local Government Association that this is the right way forward.

Since their introduction in 2003, equivalent powers in London have proved effective at reducing moving traffic contraventions, with a consequent increase in traffic flow. By making the enforcement powers available to local authorities outside London, we will improve air quality, make active travel safer and more attractive, and be able to promote sustainable travel for everyone. We all rely on the restrictions being followed to enable us to travel efficiently and safely.

I have set out the rationale for where roads can be improved. Tackling the drivers who choose to disregard the rules will therefore benefit the lives of pedestrians— not least those with protected characteristics, including people with mobility or sensory impairments, older people, carers and children. I thank you for your time, Mr Robertson, and I thank colleagues for their consideration of the SI.

Question put and agreed to.