The Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2005/2757 |
2005 No. 2757
ROAD TRAFFIC, ENGLAND
The Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005
Made 6th October 2005
Laid before Parliament 11th October 2005
Coming into force 1st November 2005
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 144(11) and (12) and 160 of the Transport Act 20001, so far as these Regulations relate to the notification, adjudication and enforcement of penalty charges, and the Secretary of State for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 144(1), (2) and (8) to (10) and 160 of that Act, so far as these Regulations relate to other matters, hereby make the following Regulations:
PART 1
PRELIMINARY
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005 and shall come into force on 1st November 2005.
(2) These Regulations apply only to England exclusive of Greater London.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the 2000 Act” means the Transport Act 2000;
“adjudicator”, except in the expression “parking adjudicator”, means a bus lane adjudicator appointed under regulation 11(1)(a);
“appeal” means an appeal against the imposition of a penalty charge;
“appeal period” means the period of 28 days specified in regulation 14(4);
“contravention” means a bus lane contravention in which a vehicle is involved;
“enforcing authority” in relation to a penalty charge means the approved local authority which imposed the penalty charge;
“notice of rejection” means a notice served under regulation 10(3);
“penalty charge notice” has the meaning given by regulation 8(1);
“proper officer” means a person appointed under regulation 11(1)(c);
“register” means the register of appeals and decisions kept in accordance with regulation 31;
“statutory grounds of appeal” means the grounds, as specified in regulation 9(2), on which—
(a) representations against a penalty charge notice may be made under regulation 9 to an approved authority; or
(b) an appeal made to an adjudicator under regulation 14;
“vehicle” means motor vehicle; and
“working day” means any day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday, Good Friday, Christmas Day, or a bank holiday in England and Wales by virtue of section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 19712.
(2) Subject to regulation 10(2), for the purposes of these Regulations, the owner of a vehicle shall be taken to be the person by whom the vehicle is kept.
(3) In determining, for the purposes of these Regulations, who was the owner of a vehicle at any time, it shall, subject to regulation 10(2), be presumed that the owner was the person in whose name the vehicle was registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 19943at that time.
(4) In determining, for the purposes of these Regulations, whether and when a penalty charge has been paid, it shall be taken to have been paid when the whole of the amount of the penalty charge applicable in the circumstances of the case is received by the approved local authority concerned.
(5) References to the service of a document include service by post and, in determining for the purposes of these Regulations the date on which a notice or other document is served by post, it shall be presumed that service of a notice sent by first class post was effected on the person to whom it was addressed on the second working day after the day on which it was posted.
PART 2
PENALTY CHARGES
Penalty charges
3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and regulation 4, an approved local authority may impose a penalty charge in respect of a contravention relating to any road within their area, except a road which is a special road in accordance with section 16 of the Highways Act 19804.
(2) A penalty charge may be imposed only on the basis of a record produced by an approved device.
Level of penalty charges
4.—(1) An approved local authority shall not impose a penalty charge in accordance with these Regulations unless—
(a)
(a) it has first set the level of penalty charge that is to apply within its area;
(b)
(b) the Secretary of State has approved that level; and
(c)
(c) it has published in at least one local newspaper circulating in its area a notice specifying—
(i) the circumstances in which a penalty charge may be imposed;
(ii) the level of the penalty charge; and
(iii) the date, being a day which falls after the end of the period of 15 days beginning with the day on which the notice is published, on which the authority will start to impose penalty charges at that level,
and no charge shall be imposed before the date so specified.
(2) In setting the level of penalty charge an approved local authority shall have regard to any guidance for the time being issued by the Secretary of State.
(3) Each approved local authority shall make available, at all reasonable times, free of charge and in a form which is readily accessible to any member of the public, information about the level of the penalty charge for the time being in force in its area.
(4) In the circumstances described in regulation 8(5)(f), an authority must accept a sum equivalent to one half of the level of charge approved by the Secretary of State, in full payment of a penalty charge.
(5) In the circumstances described in regulation 8(5)(j), an authority may increase a penalty charge to a sum equivalent to one and a half times the level of charge approved by the Secretary of State.
Person by whom penalty charge is to be paid
5.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a penalty charge shall be paid by the owner of the vehicle involved in the contravention.
(2) Where the vehicle involved in the contravention—
(a)
(a) was at the material time the subject of a hiring agreement; and
(b)
(b) the person hiring it, or an individual authorised to sign on his behalf, has signed a statement of liability acknowledging his liability in respect of any penalty charge incurred during the currency of the hiring agreement,
the penalty charge shall be paid by the person who has hired the vehicle under the agreement.
(3) Where—
(a)
(a) the vehicle involved in the contravention is kept by a vehicle trader; and
(b)
(b) at the time of the contravention, a person other than the vehicle trader is the registered keeper of the vehicle,
the penalty charge shall be paid by the vehicle trader.
(4) In this regulation—
“hiring agreement” means an agreement for the hire of a vehicle—
(i) under the terms of which the vehicle is let to the hirer for a fixed period of any duration (whether or not that period is capable of extension by agreement between the parties or otherwise);
(ii) which contains such particulars as may for the time being be prescribed for the purpose of section 66(8) (offences relating to hired vehicles) of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 19885; and
(iii) which is not a hire purchase agreement within the meaning of the Consumer Credit Act 19746; and
“vehicle trader” has the same meaning as in regulation 20(6) (change of keeper: general provisions) of the Road Vehicle (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 20027.
Circumstances in which penalty charge need not be paid or is to be refunded
6.—(1) A penalty charge shall not be payable under these Regulations where—
(a)
(a) the conduct constituting the contravention is the subject of criminal proceedings; or
(b)
(b) a fixed penalty notice, as defined by section 52 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 19888, has been given in respect of that conduct.
(2) Where, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1)—
(a)
(a) a penalty charge has been paid in respect of a contravention; and
(b)
(b) the circumstances are as mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) or (b),
the authority shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after those circumstances come to their notice, refund the amount of the penalty charge.
PART 3
NOTIFICATION OF, AND REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT, PENALTY CHARGES
Interpretation of Part 3
7. In this Part—
“the detection date”, in relation to a contravention, means the date on which, according to a record produced by an approved device, the contravention occurred;
“the recipient”, in relation to a penalty charge notice, means the person on whom the penalty charge notice is served; and
“the 28 day period”, in relation to a penalty charge notice, means the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of the notice.
Penalty charge notices
8.—(1) Where an approved local authority have reason to believe that a penalty charge is payable under Part 2 with respect to a vehicle, they may, in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (5) below, serve a notice (“penalty charge notice”) on the person appearing to them to be the owner of the vehicle or on the person appearing to them to be the person liable to pay the charge.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), a penalty charge notice shall be served before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the detection date.
(3) Where—
(a)
(a) within 14 days of the detection date an approved local authority have made a request to the Secretary of State for the supply of relevant particulars; and
(b)
(b) those particulars have not been supplied before the date after which the authority would not be entitled to serve a penalty charge notice by virtue of paragraph (2),
the authority shall continue to be entitled to serve a penalty charge notice for a further period of six months beginning with the date mentioned in sub-paragraph (b).
(4) In paragraph (3) “relevant particulars” means particulars relating to the identity of the keeper of the...
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