Edinburgh Council Parking Rules Not Followed

Edinburgh runs its own civil parking enforcement, under powers in Part II of the Road Traffic Act 1991 that were switched on for the city by a designation order in 1998. Three things have to be right before a penalty charge notice stands up: there must be a valid traffic regulation order creating the restriction, the restriction must be signed in the way the traffic signs rules require, and the council must be able to evidence the contravention it says happened. There are two stages and they are not the same. While you have only the ticket, anything you write is an informal challenge and the council considers it as a matter of discretion. Once the council serves a "notice to owner", you get a statutory right to make formal representations, and if those are denied you can appeal within 28 days. That appeal goes to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, General Regulatory Chamber — parking adjudicators stopped hearing these cases on 1 April 2020, so any guidance still telling you to appeal to an adjudicator is out of date.

Legal basis

Road Traffic Act 1991 Part II and schedule 6, as applied to the City of Edinburgh with modifications by the Road Traffic (Permitted Parking Area and Special Parking Area) (City of Edinburgh) Designation Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1539), article 4 and schedule 2, with effect from 5 October 1998. Formal representations against a notice to owner are made under paragraph 2 of schedule 6 on the grounds in paragraph 2(4); paragraph 5(1) then allows an appeal before "the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of that notice" or such longer period as the adjudicator may allow. (Sections 71 and 72 of the same Act govern only representations and appeals about a vehicle that has been removed or immobilised, and do not apply to an ordinary parking penalty.) The functions of parking adjudicators under sections 72(2) and 73(3) and paragraph 5(2) of schedule 6 were transferred to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland and allocated to the General Regulatory Chamber on 1 April 2020 by regulation 3 of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Transfer of Functions of Parking Adjudicators) Regulations 2020 (S.S.I. 2020/95), regulation 5 of which abolished the office; procedure is governed by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland General Regulatory Chamber Parking and Bus Lane Appeals (Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2020 (S.S.I. 2020/98). Signing of the restriction is governed by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (S.I. 2016/362).

How to identify this in your case

Your penalty charge notice was issued in Edinburgh by the City of Edinburgh Council. First work out which stage you are at: if you have only the ticket, you are making an informal challenge; if a notice to owner has arrived, you are making formal representations under paragraph 2 of schedule 6 and must put your point within one of the grounds in paragraph 2(4). Either way, check that the notice identifies the traffic regulation order it relies on, and ask the council for a copy of that order and confirmation it was properly made and still in force. Go and look at the signs and road markings where you parked and compare them with what the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 require — a restriction that is not signed as the rules require is hard for the council to enforce. Ask for the photographic or camera evidence and the enforcement officer's notes. If formal representations are denied, you have 28 days from service of that rejection to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, General Regulatory Chamber.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear Parking Services, Re: Penalty charge notice [PCN_NUMBER] — vehicle [REG] — issued in Edinburgh on [DATE] [IF A NOTICE TO OWNER HAS BEEN SERVED, USE THIS OPENING:] I make representations against the notice to owner under paragraph 2 of schedule 6 to the Road Traffic Act 1991, as applied to the City of Edinburgh by the Road Traffic (Permitted Parking Area and Special Parking Area) (City of Edinburgh) Designation Order 1998. The ground I rely on under paragraph 2(4) is that [STATE THE GROUND — for example that the alleged contravention did not occur]. [IF NO NOTICE TO OWNER HAS BEEN SERVED YET, USE THIS OPENING INSTEAD:] I challenge this penalty charge notice and ask the authority to cancel it. I understand this is an informal challenge at this stage and that my statutory right to make representations arises when a notice to owner is served. I dispute that the contravention occurred, because [SPECIFIC REASON]. Before this notice can properly be upheld I ask the authority to provide: 1. A copy of the traffic regulation order relied on, and confirmation that it was validly made and in force on [DATE]. 2. Evidence that the restriction was signed and marked in accordance with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016. 3. The photographic or camera evidence of the alleged contravention. 4. The enforcement officer's contemporaneous notes, including the times recorded. I ask that the penalty charge notice be cancelled. If the authority rejects representations made against a notice to owner, please confirm that its notice of rejection will set out my right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, General Regulatory Chamber, within 28 days of service. Yours faithfully, [NAME]

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Sources

Road Traffic Act 1991 Part II and schedule 6, paragraphs 1, 2 and 5
The Road Traffic (Permitted Parking Area and Special Parking Area) (City of Edinburgh) Designation Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1539)
The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Transfer of Functions of Parking Adjudicators) Regulations 2020 (S.S.I. 2020/95)
The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (S.I. 2016/362)