On 31st March 2008, part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA) replaced the Road Traffic Act 1991 as the primary legislation for parking enforcement in England and Wales.
This legislation aims to make parking enforcement across the country more consistent and clearer for the motorist. Each local authority is therefore required to publish guidance on enforcement and cancellation of penalty charge notices so that people know what to expect and what action to take if they receive one. In order to achieve consistency wherever possible within the South East, parking managers from Kent and East Sussex have worked together to discuss the changes needed.
The biggest change brought in by the new legislation is the two tier, or differential charging for penalty charge notices (PCN)s. This means that the more serious contraventions, such as parking on double yellow lines, school zig zags or in bus stops, will attract a higher rate penalty and those not so serious, such as going over your time in a pay and display bay or car park, will attract the lower rate.
This change addresses previous criticism of the penalty charge process where motorists were penalised similarly for all parking contraventions, regardless of the 'severity'. A full list of parking contraventions operating in this area and whether they are higher or lower rate penalties is available here.
All Kent and East Sussex local authorities will charge £70.00 for a higher rate penalty charge notice and £50.00 for the lower rate. Each penalty will be discounted by 50% if payment is received within 14 days of the date of service.
If you have received a penalty charge notice you should consider reading our What to do if you receive a Penalty Charge Notice advice.
Back to top of page...
This page last updated: 28/03/2008