Parking and bus lane adjudicators: consultation analysis

Background

1. The Scottish Government is in the process of implementing the Tribunals (Scotland) Act 2014 (the 2014 Act) which creates a new, simplified statutory framework for tribunals in Scotland, bringing existing tribunal jurisdictions together and providing an organised structure for new jurisdictions.

2. The 2014 Act creates two tribunals, the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (First- tier Tribunal) and Upper Tribunal for Scotland (Upper Tribunal), known collectively as the Scottish Tribunals. In due course all the devolved tribunal jurisdictions will transfer-in to the Scottish Tribunals. The first tribunals (the private rented housing panel, the homeowner housing panel and their respective committees) transferred into the Scottish Tribunals in 2016. The Scottish Tax Tribunal transferred in April 2017, the Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland and the Scottish Charity Appeals Panel transferred in January 2018 with the Social Security Chamber created in November 2018.

3. A Parking Adjudicator is listed as a Tribunal in schedule 1 of the Tribunals

(Scotland) Act 2014. A Bus Lane Adjudicator and ‘the functions exercisable by a bus lane adjudicator’ were added to schedule 1 in November 2019 by way of regulations - the Scottish (Listed Tribunals) Regulations 2019.

4. The primary role of the Parking Adjudicators is to consider appeals against penalty charge notices (PCN) issued by the 21 local authorities who currently participate in decriminalised parking enforcement schemes. Section 66 of the Road Traffic Act 1991 (the RTA 1991) as amended sets out when a PCN can be issued and schedule 6 of the RTA 1991 sets out the process of the Notice to Owner, the grounds of appeal the adjudicator can consider and the Notice of Rejection process (which is a decision and process carried out internally by each local authority and which can ultimately be appealed to the Parking Adjudicator). In addition, Parking Adjudicators consider appeals where the PCN has been issued, the vehicle removed and the appellant has paid the PCN, removal and possibly storage charges. The appellant is then seeking revocation of the PCN and reimbursement. This is contained in sections 71 and 72 of the RTA 1991.

5. The Parking Adjudicators also perform the role of Bus Lane Adjudicators. The primary role of Bus Lane Adjudicators is to consider appeals against Bus Lane Enforcement Charge Notices (currently only three local authorities participate in this scheme, being Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen). These arise under Section 44 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 and subsequent Regulations.

6. The functions and members of the Parking Adjudicators and Bus Lane Adjudicators will transfer into the Scottish Tribunals on 1 April 2020 as part of the General Regulatory Chamber.

7. The Scottish Government ran a consultation between 14 September 2018 and 9 November 2018 on the suite of draft regulations required to transfer the Parking Adjudicators and the Bus Lane Adjudicators into the Scottish Tribunals^[1].