With PCNs to DaC drivers flowing like water, Mike Son took up the subject with the Corporation of London and comes up with some startling findings that will shock…

Penalty Notices
As you are aware, many drivers have been issued with City of London Camera Enforcement Penalty Notices and for fear of prosecution, have paid the fines. The fines have been issued not just while waiting for customers, but also while setting down and picking up. The situation is becoming intolerable for both drivers and account clients and with this in mind, I made contact with The City of London Corporation Camera Enforcement Department, the City of London Corporation Director of Planning and the City of London Police with a view to resolving this problem. I was asked to submit PCN notices for the Camera Enforcement Dept to review and their initial response is below…
   We intend taking this matter further and have asked that representatives from Dial-a-Cab be invited to the 28 June meeting, however, it is important to realise that our only concerns are with the distress caused to our members and the adverse affect it is having on our clients.

 Mike Son
Customer Services / Special Projects

Reply from the Corporation of London

Michael,
I've now had a chance to review some of the PCNs you submitted and can give you some feedback. Firstly, I'll begin with an explanation of the City parking regulations and then I'll explain the specific details of the PCNs I examined. The City parking regulations are governed by The City of London (Waiting and Loading Restriction) (Special Parking Area) Order 2001, which consolidated a number of pieces of legislation dating back to the decriminalisation of parking in the City in 1994. 
   In general, this states that “No person shall cause or permit any vehicle to wait during the prescribed hours (8.30am to 6.30pm Monday - Friday, 8.30am to 1.30pm Saturday) in any restricted street (that's all of the City), except for so long as may be necessary for the purpose of delivering or collecting goods or loading or unloading the vehicle at premises adjacent to the street.” This means that during the controlled zone hours, a PCN can be issued for any vehicle that is waiting on-street, unless it is seen to be loading and unloading. The definition of loading and unloading is that some form of activity is observed at least every five minutes, so a parking attendant will remain in place for the five minute period to see whether this happens.  In effect, this means that even if no-one is with the vehicle, they have five minutes to prove they are loading, otherwise a PCN will be issued.
   However, in some specified areas, this specific permission to load and unload is completely prohibited. In these areas, the Corporation has deemed that even loading cannot be permitted because of the impact such an operation could have on traffic flow. These areas are defined on-street by kerb chevrons (painted dashes on the kerb) and by a supporting time plate that details the hours in which loading is prohibited. In these locations (but with some exceptions - see below), as soon as a vehicle stops, it is in contravention of the offence and a PCN can be issued.
   There are some exemptions to this 'instant PCN' offence. For example, it doesn't apply to a bus on a bus stop, an emergency service vehicle or a statutory utility vehicle. In terms of taxis, they are exempt if they are waiting on an authorised taxi rank, but in terms of the PCNs I looked at, this does not come into play.
   Instead, there is a separate exemption, not specific to taxis, that says 'Nothing in this Order shall render it unlawful to cause or permit a vehicle to wait in any restricted street for so long as may be necessary for the purpose of enabling any person

PARKING AND THE CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION

to board or alight from the vehicle or to load thereon or unload there from his personal luggage'. This is the so-called pick up / set down exemption which means that even where there is a loading ban in place, any vehicle is allowed to pick up and set down. In other words, these are not 'no stopping' areas like red routes / clearway but you have to be actively picking up/ dropping off to avoid a PCN.    
   This takes me to the sample of PCNs I looked at from the list you supplied. The PCNs were issued for one of three types of offence and I'll take each in turn.
   A) Six PCNs were issued for the offence of waiting in a restricted street. On each occasion, the location of the vehicle at the time (Liverpool
Street, London Wall, Fenchurch Street, Lime Street, Old Bailey and Leadenhall Street) meant it was parked where loading and unloading was prohibited and in other words an 'instant' PCN could be issued. Operationally, in terms of an on-foot parking attendant, that means as soon as they reach the vehicle they can start writing out the PCN. In terms of the CCTV parking attendants, on each occasion (except one), they gave the taxi at least two minutes observation before issuing the PCN - probably twice as long as any on-foot attendant would. In that time, it's clear that the vehicle was not in the process of actively setting down or picking up and so therefore is in contravention of the restrictions. In some of these cases, the taxi may be waiting for someone to emerge from the building,, but the key here is that they are waiting to pick up, but are not actually picking-up. The drivers could often be seen reading newspapers, eating or doing paperwork and remained in place for some considerable time. 
   The one case where less than two minutes was given was in Old Bailey. In this location, I feel it's appropriate that a more stringent enforcement regime is in place because of the security measures around the court, but even in this case, the PCN was still only issued after a minute and a half had elapsed.
   B) One PCN was issued for the offence of parking on the footway (St Paul’s Churchyard.  For this offence, there is no exemption for picking up and setting down and an 'instant' offence is always committed. Nevertheless, the taxi in this case was still given around two minutes observation before the PCN was issued. This offence is City wide, but in the case of St Paul’s Churchyard, the footway in question has been lowered to allow vehicles to drive into the area to the north of the cathedral. However, this crossover still forms part of the footway as the public are expected to use it to walk along St Paul’s Churchyard, just as they would across any residential driveway.   
   C) One PCN was issued for the offence of standing on the zig-zags of a pedestrian crossing (Eldon Street). Again, for this offence there is no exemption for picking up and setting down, and an 'instant' offence is committed. In the case I looked at, the taxi was indeed setting down passengers, but did so right next to the pedestrian crossing. This is an inherently unsafe situation for pedestrians trying to use the crossing and for drivers trying to see them, and is the reason why there is no exemption for picking up and setting down.
   D) Finally, although none of your PCNs were around the Smithfield area, I would point out that the bays have, for some time, been designated for loading / unloading market vehicles only. However, my experience is that for equally as
long, taxi drivers have used the area as an unofficial lunch

 stop. Drivers can often been seen parked up for half an hour or more, but once a parking attendant arrives, they move on. These offences are now actively being enforced by CCTV.
   To summarise, CCTV offences are not being issued for new offences and there has been no change to any part of the parking regulations in the City (other than bus lane offences, which I have not covered in this discussion). Simply put, CCTV contraventions are the same as any PCN issued by an on-foot parking attendant, but rather the greater scope provided by CCTV is intended to improve compliance with the existing parking regulations. I would make the point that drivers have always been committing these contraventions (sometimes knowingly), but were not being penalised if a parking attendant had not been present.
   Picking up and setting down is generally permitted, even when loading is not permitted, except where this is potentially dangerous (such as on pedestrian crossings and on the footway).  However, simply waiting outside buildings is not permitted within the regulations. Where a loading ban is not in place, five minutes observation will typically be given before a PCN for 'waiting in a restricted street' is issued. If a loading ban is in place, an on-foot parking attendant will issue a PCN as soon as the offence is seen, or CCTV operators will give the vehicle two minutes observation.
   In terms of advice for your members, I would say the following:
   *Don't park on the footway and don't pick up / drop off on pedestrian crossings, as these will attract instant PCNs.
   *Look for loading bans (indicated by kerb chevrons and plates) as these will generally be enforced by CCTV as well as on-foot parking attendants and will have more stringent restrictions in place.   
   *If you are waiting for someone to emerge from a building and no loading ban is in place, you can generally expect to be able to stand for five minutes before a PCN is issued.
   *If a loading ban is in place, you can generally expect to be able to stand for two minutes before a CCTV PCN is issued, but an on-foot parking attendant can still issue one as soon as they reach the vehicle.
   *Don't use the bays around Smithfield, as these are for loading / unloading market vehicles only.
   On a wider perspective, if you wish to make the case that some of these contraventions occur in places where you are not causing an obstruction to the traffic flow, then your case should be based on whether the restrictions in that area are appropriate. If you wish to make such a case, then it would be down to the City Planning Officer (or his representative ie Iain Simmons) to consider such a case. You asked about what information is available on where these individual loading restrictions are located, but at the moment I don't have a City-wide map or list because this quickly becomes out of date, but the Corporation is working on a GIS based information system that will allow this information to be displayed on its web site. This is some months away, but could eventually help the situation greatly.
   You may wish to know that I am meeting with Jim Kelly of the London Cab Ranks Committee on Tuesday 28 June to discuss this further, but if you have any further questions, please let me know.

Regards,
Ian Hughes.

PS If any of the individual drivers concerned wish to make representations on their individual PCNs, this must still be done through the Corporation's Parking Ticket Office rather than through me.