Clampdown on overdue parking fines

Perth and Kinross Council is literally clamping down on unpaid penalty charge notices.

- KATHRYN ANDERSON

A proactive policy of clamping and uplifting vehicles - introduced last year - has been hailed by councillors.

The move was praised as PKC’s Finance and Resources Committee agreed to write off £438,426 in respect of the Car Park Trading Account Income of all amounts charged and still outstanding for the period prior to October 2023.

A total of £344,664 was written off in 2023/24.

The report - put before the committee - said the write-off was equivalent to 14 per cent of the number of penalty charge notices issued during 2023/24 compared with the equivalent write-off of 19 per cent of those issued in 2022/23.

At the Finance and Resources Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 25, Conservative councillor David Illingworth said: "It's great to see the percentage of unpaid fixed penalty notices is down but there are still one in seven tickets not being paid at the moment.

"What are the reasons for this? And, with the introduction of pavement parking offences, are we likely to see the same situation?"

PKC’s Parking, Public Transport and Civil Contingencies manager Hunter Hope told councillors PKC’s collection rates compared favourably with other councils.