It has been a long journey. The investigation began in 2005 and it took over a hundred cancelled tickets before the council 'dared' go to adjudication.
This is what NCP were up to in Sunderland and what was revealed in an award winning BBC Inside Out Documentary. However, the Parking Attendants' behaviour grabbed the headlines. The council officers' behaviour is yet to be revealed.
To get 'decriminalised' powers in 2003 certain Sunderland City Council officers 'misled' the Secretary of State. Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE) allows councils to keep the money issued from parking fines, rather than the money going into a central pot. That is why revenue from parking has hit £1.9 billion per annum.
The number of fines in Sunderland went from 3000 before DPE in 2003 to 30,000 after. More will be revealed in the coming weeks and we will start to publish (in the public interest) all the documents released by the Government Office for the North East and the Department for Transport which will show how many people knew what was going on yet not one Governemnt official was prepared to intervene to prevent motorists being fined illegally.
The following Youtube clips will help to set the scene ...
Showing posts with label bribery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bribery. Show all posts
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Councillor jailed for bribery
Perhaps a bright spotlight will be shining on elected members and officers elsewhere in the country very soon.
Question is 'will we have to build more prisons?'
Ex-councillor jailed over bribery
BBC News
Jeremy Baker had denied taking two bribes totalling £750
A former Portsmouth city councillor has been jailed for a year after being found guilty of accepting a bribe.
Jeremy Baker, 47, from Cosham, was convicted of accepting £500 for making sure a planning decision for a property developer got through.
A secret film of the incident was shown to jurors at Winchester Crown Court during Baker's trial.
He was convicted of a corruption charge but cleared of another. They related to his time on the planning committee.
Estate agent David Maunder made the recording in an agreement with a property developer who felt he was poorly treated by planners, jurors were told.
The developer felt aggrieved about the planning committee's dealings over his three properties in London Road, St Helens Parade and Kingston Parade, the court heard.
On one occasion, Mr Maunder said to Baker, "right I've got a little something for you" before counting £500 out on the table, jurors were told.
Baker, who was cleared of taking a £250 bribe, was jailed for a year on Thursday.
Question is 'will we have to build more prisons?'
Ex-councillor jailed over briberyBBC News
Jeremy Baker had denied taking two bribes totalling £750
A former Portsmouth city councillor has been jailed for a year after being found guilty of accepting a bribe.
Jeremy Baker, 47, from Cosham, was convicted of accepting £500 for making sure a planning decision for a property developer got through.
A secret film of the incident was shown to jurors at Winchester Crown Court during Baker's trial.
He was convicted of a corruption charge but cleared of another. They related to his time on the planning committee.
Estate agent David Maunder made the recording in an agreement with a property developer who felt he was poorly treated by planners, jurors were told.
The developer felt aggrieved about the planning committee's dealings over his three properties in London Road, St Helens Parade and Kingston Parade, the court heard.
On one occasion, Mr Maunder said to Baker, "right I've got a little something for you" before counting £500 out on the table, jurors were told.
Baker, who was cleared of taking a £250 bribe, was jailed for a year on Thursday.
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