Parking tickets issued for registration input errors

​​​Request ​784724690

A - Parking tickets issued for registration input errors 

For each year from 2019 to date, please provide the number of parking tickets issued where the registered vehicle number differed from the PayByPhone entry by only a missing "J" prefix (e.g., PayByPhone has a paid session for "12345" but a ticket was issued to "J12345") 

B - Enforcement policy and process 1

1. What is the current policy regarding leniency for obvious typos/input errors in parking apps where the intent to pay is clear? 

2. Is there a process in place for parking enforcement officers to check PayByPhone for active sessions matching the vehicle registration (excluding the "J" prefix) before issuing a ticket? 

3. Does parking enforcement believe this is an ongoing issue? 

4. Does parking enforcement believe a person should legitimately be fined for this discrepancy when the intent to pay is clear and the parking fee has been paid? 

5. What does parking enforcement estimate is the percentage likelihood that a Guernsey car and a Jersey car with the same number suffix would be parked in the same car park at the same time? 

6. How many written warnings (rather than tickets) were issued in cases matching the criteria in section A? 

7. Has this policy changed during the period 2019 to date? If so, please provide details. 

C - Appeals and outcomes 

For parking tickets matching the criteria in section A: 

1. How many appeals were lodged? 

2. How many appeals were successful? 

3. What was the total value of tickets cancelled following appeals? 

D - Revenue impact 

For tickets matching the criteria in section A, what was the total revenue received each year?

Response

A 

The parking recognition system does not record a reason for non payment of a parking charge, for example the J prefix is missing from the registration number, therefore the requested information is not held and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

B1 

A parking excess notice that has been issued due to an inputting error can be cancelled following the submission of an appeal if it is the first instance that one has been issued due to a typographical error or similar. 

The Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) includes the following wording in any appeal correspondence, ‘should another penalty be issued for a similar offence, I regret there would be no alternative but to uphold that issuance at the normal rate.’ Therefore, any further parking excess notices would be upheld.

B2 

The referenced process in not in place since the requested checks cannot be carried out on the PayByPhone active sessions. 

B3, B4 and B5 

The Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 gives a right to request information that is held in recorded form, unless exempt.

This part of the request poses a question rather than seeking information held in a recorded form, therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

B6 

The requested information is not held as the SPA does not record the reason why a parking charge was not paid as referenced in the response to Question A. Therefore, the requested information is not held and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies

B7 

There has been no change to the policy. 

C1, C2 and C3 

The SPA does not maintain a list of which appeals relate only to the omission of the J from the registration number, therefore the requested information is not held and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. 

D 

The SPA does not maintain a list regarding the revenue received from parking excess notices as referenced in Question A, therefore the requested information is not held and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies. 

Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.​