Forum Topic

Ealing's Permit Fine Amnesty - A Huge Victory for Residents

Thousands of people in Ealing borough owe huge thanks to people like Paul Cronshaw, Barry Gleeson and Ian Richardson who by not letting the issue go have finally forced Ealing to refund fines given to permit holders resulting from the council's own inadequate systems.There is no way that they wouldn't have given in without the persistent pressure from these people, and no doubt many others who have complained about this misuse of power behind the scenes. Credit also should go to this site and the others covering the borough for picking up on this issue and giving it due prominence. I'm not sure there are any precedents for this because in most other cases in which a council has admitted fault they have required people to apply for refunds rather than giving the money back automatically.

Mark Evans ● 2207d10 Comments

I fell foul of the council's failure to send out parking permit reminders when the system first broke down in 2018. After reading the article on the W3 website saying it had now accepted responsibility for the failure and would refund payments I applied for my money back, only to be told by something called the 'correspondence team' that 'having carefully considered your challenge' no refund was due and 'the case is now closed'. They didn't explain exactly why I didn't qualify under the ruling announced by the Head of Parking. I have written again, but so far have had no reply. It isn't the money that matters (I can't even remember what fine I paid), but the principle of holding an increasingly dictatorial council to account. Any ideas where to go from here?

John Alexander ● 2166d

Most definitely

Christopher Torres ● 2166d

It may be that the council is saying they were unaffected by the system failure and that reminders were sent to them but they never received them.Is it okay if I get them to contact you directly? If so you appear to be posting as a guest on this forum, your name is shown in black, and you would need to register for them to DM you.

Andy Jones ● 2168d

Do we know why? What are the reasons? Gina Cole, Head of Ealing Parking Services, wrote the following in an email on 16 January:" I can confirm that all customers who received a PCN during the system down time of the permit renewals will have their case cancelled and all those who paid will be issued a refund. We are interrogating the system to ensure those customers affected who have not made contact will be made aware."Not only are residents being refunded but they are being contacted by the council to be notified that this is taking place.We need to monitor this.

Paul Cronshaw ● 2173d

I've heard of a couple of examples now of residents fined for non-renewal of permits who have not been given a refund.

Andy Jones ● 2174d

Initial rejection of any appeal of a parking ticket is standard operating practice for Ealing. They hope that a proportion of people will give up so even if you said you had momentarily pulled up in a residents' parking zone to rescue a child from a burning building and provided a copy of your George Cross award with citation and a newspaper report with the date and time the incident occurred they would still reject your appeal. Go to the next stage and you should find they cave at the last minute.  Quite why they aren't processing the refunds properly is a bit of a mystery. Let Private Eye know — they might be willing to do a follow up.

Andrew OSullivan ● 2188d

Have you asked your ward councillors for help? Gina Cole, Head of LBE Parking Services, has confirmed in writing that all monies paid for these PCNs will be refunded. And all outstanding relevant PCNs will be cancelled.

Paul Cronshaw ● 2188d

How does one apply for a refund? I sent the council an email asking for my refund when I saw this thread and they told me to get stuffed. The fine was "correctly given", they said, and it was my responsibility to renew my resident's permit even if they'd forgotten to send out reminders. In my experience, therefore, Ealing Council are definitely not giving a permit fine amnesty and if you got a fine after they failed to send you a reminder - that's just too bad.

Christopher Torres ● 2189d

Yes many thanks - Ealing Council are atrocious and it is nice to have a victory against such a disingenous rotten borough.

Natalie McDermott ● 2201d

Hear, Hear.VERY "Well done" and "Thank you" to all those who persisted, against all odds.This injustice and numerous other issues continue to exemplify just how truly rotten things are at the very core of Ealing Council under the (mis)direction of The Great Leader.Still, the consultations & polls all consistently say that Residents are "Satisfied" with LBE, so, we must be!  😄 😂 🤣

Rosco White ● 2207d