NSL at PATAS ( NSL = No show likely )

Timberland ladies no show socks

I had been told that NSL were failing at the start of May to submit paperwork to PATAS because of  what seemed like the ridiculous reason given to me that NSL didn't know how to use the Civica system and had put all the back office staff on gardening leave.

Surely the council wouldn't let a contractor start who was not ready to provide the contracted for service (there had already been a postponement of a month in the start date) or that NSL will pass through the supposedly thorough tendering process with this great gap in their knowledge or that NSL wouldn't have got enough staff trained up to process the 3,000 parking tickets that are issued every week?

If this is the quality of service that we get at every One Barnet contract outsourcing we are in for a very bad time.

Well it seems that someone has blundered. Whether it is NSL or Barnet Council, there is sure to be a cover up.

I have recently worked out how to find out what cases have taken place at PATAS ( Parking and Traffic Appeals Service ) in the first two weeks of May. I have ignored the very day of the handover, 1 May, and then looked at the number of cases heard each day and whether the appeal was Allowed i.e. the parking ticket (PCN) was cancelled or if the Appeal was refused in which it should be paid.

Here are the numbers:

Date in	Ticket	Appeal
May	Cancelled	Refused
2	14	1
3	5	1
4	15	1
weekend
7	none	none
8	17	1
9	10	0
10	42	0
11	33	0

That is not very good is it? 136 cases which were found in favour of the motorist, some 97% in favour of the motorist. Nearly every case that i looked at as to why the appeal was allowed was a variation on the words that Barnet Council failed to put in any evidence.

If this doesn't spur you on to appeal to PATAS if Barnet Council reject your appeal then I don't know what would make you.

The lost cases were also interesting.

A builder parked on the pavement in order to unload soil. Next time he won't park on the pavement which is good as vehicles damage the pavement and get in the way of prams.

One person drove 10 feet very slowly and the traffic warden managed to get the ticket onto the car. The driver then got out to remonstrate. He should just have driven off before the ticket hit the windscreen to see if the council (NSL) can manage to serve properly by post as then there would not have been any photographs with a ticket on the screen.

Another case was lost because someone took 6 minutes to pay. Evidently the adjudicator has never tried to regsiter and use the hopeless pay-by-phone system.

The next two had their tickets cancelled because of no-show by Barnet but probably shouldn't have received a ticket in the first place.

A funeral directors got a ticket. What sort of society do we live in?

A 24 hour emergency glazier got a ticket. They doubtless had a smashed door or window to deal with.

If your ticket got cancelled, did you get told in time before the hearing or did you turn up there and find out on the day thus wasting your time and train fare. Did you ask for and receive any compensation?

So you can that at the moment if the council reject your appeals you should go to PATAS. Get some help if you need it. Gary Shaw (grendel@waitrose.com) might help you, especially if you were caught in Hampstead Garden Suburb as he knows the roads well there. Barry Segal is probably the most famous expert in London, you can find him at appealnow. There are references to Barry on the nutsville.com blog.

Whatever you do, don't just pay for an easy life. You are throwing your money away.

Appeal!

Yours appealingly

Miss Feezance