Progress continues on correcting Traffic Regulation Order errors

Work is progressing to correct errors in historic Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) and to reimburse motorists who were incorrectly issued with penalty charge notices (PCNs) for parking offences as a result.

The Council discovered errors in five TROs which resulted in around 6,140 PCNs being incorrectly issued, primarily on the East Reading Red Route between July 2018 – 2024. Errors were found on another four TROs which did not affect the validity of any PCNs issued.

A reimbursement scheme was set up in October 2024 and a process was put in place to rectify the incorrect TROs.

An update report on both schemes is being presented to members of the Council’s Audit and Governance committee on Tuesday 21 January (https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=174&MId=5479)

After the errors were discovered, the Council contacted motorists who had been incorrectly referred to debt recovery services and 63 individuals who responded were refunded a total of £44.9K.

A publicity campaign was launched to reach motorists who may have paid PCNs which were incorrectly issued, to encourage them to make a claim for reimbursement. This included media releases which attracted national coverage, social media posts, articles in residents’ email newsletters which reaches 85,000 households and information passed on to other councils in Berkshire and Oxfordshire to share with their residents.

The Council also sent letters to 1,250 motorists whose details were still on file and were believed to have been eligible to make a claim for reimbursement.

So far, this has resulted in a further 254 claims being accepted and paid through this system, resulting in the total reimbursement of £11.4K.

No PCNs have been issued on routes with incorrect TROs since the errors were discovered.

The process for rectifying the incorrect TROs started with a statutory consultation on the East Reading Red Route on 12 December 2024, ending on 5 January 2025. The corrected order, which will allow enforcement of parking restrictions, is expected to be put in place later this month.

Statutory consultations on the remaining TROs are due to take place over the coming weeks and will be advertised on the Council’s consultation website at: https://reading.govocal.com/en-GB/ as well as in local press and on-site.  

If agreed, enforcement will start following the making of each TRO with warnings, rather than PCNs, being issued for the first two-weeks in each case.

Various measures are being put into place by the Council to ensure such errors do not happen again.

Jackie Yates, Chief Executive of Reading Borough Council, said:

“Every effort has been made to correct the regrettable situation which resulted in penalty charge notices being incorrectly issued.

“A campaign to reach out to motorist who may be eligible for reimbursement and a scheme to process claims and issue refunds was swiftly put in place.

“We are also progressing with correcting the Traffic Regulation Orders which were found to have irregularities.

“Any motorists who believe they have paid incorrectly issued penalty charge notices and have not yet acted, can still visit the Council website and follow the process for making a claim.”

Full details can be found at: https://www.reading.gov.uk/vehicles-roads-and-transport/parking/fines-and-penalty-charge-notices/apply-for-a-parking-fine-refund/.