An east London council has written off more than £12.6 million in Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) debt from the last eight years.
On Tuesday, Newham Council’s cabinet members wrote off historic parking debt which dates back to 2016 until now.
In April 2023, the council wrote off over £7.2 million in debt. However, a cabinet report states this now stands at more than £12.6 million.
The council said despite extensive attempts to collect money owed in parking fines throughout the years, it has proved unrecoverable due to issues such as being unable to locate registered owners of vehicles.
Some fines have also been written off if the person is vulnerable and isn’t in a financial position to pay the debt, while in some cases bailiffs have also discovered the person has died.
Within the same time period, debt collectors have managed to recover £7.5 million in parking fines, including £1.4 million in outstanding debt during 2023/24.
According to the report, the council is still actively pursuing some £44.5 million in debt, which mainly relates to the two most recent years. Statutory deputy mayor, Sarah Ruiz, said: “While I realise this may look like a large figure, it is an historical accumulation dating back to 2016/17.
“I assure members that Newham does legally pursue drivers who are issued fines, but after exhaustive investigations, some owners and vehicles quite simply can’t be found.”
Cllr Ruiz, who is cabinet member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children’s Services and Education, said: “Where owners are found, we work with them to help them to pay-off any fines, but again in some circumstances a view is taken that the person is not able to pay, possibly due to vulnerabilities, and it’s not in the public interest to pursue the debt further.
“To continue to pursue debt which, following investigation is deemed to be unrecoverable, [it] ultimately costs the council more money and has a negative effect on its balance sheets.” The council says it is required to manage debts, including writing off ‘bad’ debt that is deemed ‘unrecoverable’.
