NPAS Apologises over errors in Herron v Sunderland Case... Review Request to go ahead.

Now if you can remember the hearing ... 3rd October 2006 the day after the BBC expose on the Sunderland Parking regime ... Sunderland City Council brought in a QC to present their case. (If you are a Sunderland Council taxpayer you should ask how much this cost).

Once the decision was sent out on 2nd November I decided that because there were errors in fact, in law and also clerical and administrative errors then I would request a review of the decision ... and therefore, reserve comment until the adjudicator's clerical errors had been corrected the request for review had been accepted ... once I had received a correctly worded decision.

But Sunderland Council couldn't wait and the press office 'briefed' the press that Neil Herron had lost BUT they compounded the NPAS mistake by going live with it. I was then forced to defend my reputation by pointing out that not only were Sunderland mistaken but that the matter would be taken to review once I had received a correctly worded decision.

NCP continued to issue in the area where my appeal had been successful.

The Council are using the NPAS decision to claim that their regime 'is legally robust' and the signs and lines are correct.

A formal complaint will be made to the Council...they went live with a press release which was factually incorrect and this 'maladministration' has caused an injustice and they have also potentially prejudiced other appellants as the Council used this factually incorrect NPAS Judgment in their evidence bundles for cases which were heard before NPAS in November.

I now have 14 days to submit the evidence in the Request for a Review to NPAS that will highlight the flaws that the adjudicator dismissed, and will include evidence from the Government Office of the North East and the Department for Transport. Since the adjudicator rejected Captain Green's photographic evidence without having sight of it.
An exhaustive photographic compilation of illegal signs and lines has been prepared to submit with the request for the review.

The NPAS letter specifically states:
"The consolidated decision which I now enclose rectified the clerical errors in respect of PCNs SX12069459, SX04061790, SX02033207 (they had been 'dismissed' in the original decision when in fact they had been allowed). It also now incorporates the various schedules referred to in the decision. Please accept the apologies of the tribunal for the errors and omissions in the original decisions, which occurred when recording the adjudicator's decision in the tribunal's case management system, and the accompanying covering letters in cases SX05042B, SX05052F,and SX05053J which reflected errors in the original decisions."

SUNDERLAND THOUGHT IT WAS ALL OVER ... NOW IT'S 'START AGAIN.'

Let's hope that the people who purport to be professional and independent do a little better this time...but remember that NPAS do get 55p from every PCN issued, and the adudicators are appointed by the Joint Committee which comprises of representatives from the participating local authorities, including Councillor Joseph Lawson ... Sunderland City Council's DPE Portfolio Holder. ;-)