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Failure to collect from the drivers who owe millions
Town Hall set to get tough on car-owners
who owe around £12m in fines
OUTLAW drivers owe £12 million in parking fines to
Camden Council, figures released to the New Journal reveal.
The massive bill has been run up by motorists who flatly ignore
demands to cough up for parking and traffic penalties.
Parking chiefs said on Tuesday they would chase culprits in
a bid to recover the missing money but admitted that 35 per
cent of ticketed drivers escape their punishments.
The statistics are normally kept under lock and key but were
uncovered by the New Journal following a demand for details
under the Freedom of Information Act.
The breakdown shows that £12.3 million was left owed to
the Town Hall in unpaid tickets at the end of 2005.
In 2004, the figure was £2.6 million, while £5.6
million was left owed after 2003.
Environment chief Alex Williams said that his own department
had miscalculated the figures leading to a skewed picture of
the amount of money owed to Camden.
But he conceded that rogue drivers were breaking the rules and
escaping penalties.
The main offenders are thought to be drivers who deliberately
fail to register ownership of the car – making it difficult
for them to be tracked down – and foreign motorists who
pick up fines but then flee to mainland Europe without paying
up.
Mr Williams said: “I think the real issue is that people
don’t register their vehicles. They can give fake information.
It makes it hard to track down the drivers who have broken the
rules.”
He added: “On average we are looking at around 65 per cent
of tickets being paid. With the CCTV enforcement, it is about
80 per cent.
“With manual tickets its in the high 50s and low 60s. It
is a good figure compared with other London boroughs but it
is a problem. It is a national problem.”
Mr Williams said that at the end of the financial year owed
money in parking fines may have dropped to £2.25 million.
Three firms of bailiffs work pursue parking cheats.
Mr Williams added: “The figures you have are on the high
side. They have been worked out on the calendar year rather
than the financial year. It takes about six months for all the
tickets to go through the system and then you get a clearer
picture.”
Mr Williams said that he could understand how drivers who paid
fees could be frustrated to learn that other motorists were
flouting the rules.
He added: “There is the review on clamping going on and
cases like this are something that is in favour of clamping.
“If you get repeat offenders or people who have not registered
the cars involved, a clamping stops them. They can’t drive
the car unless they pay the fine.”
Last week, a Lib Dem motion backed by the Conservative group
at the Town Hall calling for clamping to be axed was killed
off when Labour councillors used their majority to throw out
the proposal. Commenting on the latest figures, Conservative
councillor Piers Wauchope said: “We have always said parking
policies in Camden has been unfair – we would not be surprised
if the department was inefficient as well.” |
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