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Three appeals, start to finish: the assessment Cato writes about the case, and the letter it builds from that assessment. Nothing here is anyone's real ticket — the facts are illustrative — but every regulation cited is one Cato quotes verbatim.

Formal representations against a Notice to Owner

The assessmentStrong

Your case is well-founded. You hold a valid resident permit (ref BCC-RP-778214) that was active from 1 March 2026 - more than a month before the PCN was issued on 3 April 2026 - and you parked in the correct zone. The permit's existence and validity are verifiable from Birmingham City Council's own records. The statutory ground is straightforward: the contravention did not occur because the vehicle was correctly permitted at the time and location. The council's rejection without addressing the permit's validity is the weakest point in their position. Additionally, because this PCN was issued by CCTV rather than by a civil enforcement officer attending in person, you are entitled to require the council to produce evidence that the camera device used is of a type approved by the Secretary of State for enforcing this contravention, including the type-approval certificate and the on-site commissioning records for that specific camera. If the council cannot produce those documents, the enforcement itself is open to challenge. Even if the council rejects these representations again, a reasonable proportion of councils withdraw before an independent adjudicator hearing rather than contest a well-evidenced permit case.

Why this approach

Under SI 2022/576 regulation 5(4)(a), "the alleged contravention did not occur" is a prescribed statutory ground of representation, and where a valid permit existed at the relevant time and location, there is no contravention in law.

Benchmark

If this goes to tribunal: 44.9% of appeals are allowed nationally (no authority-level data published).

Grounds detected

Lead ground: Contravention did not occur - valid permit held

You held permit BCC-RP-778214, active from 1 March 2026, covering the Bristol Street resident permit bay. At the time of the alleged contravention on 3 April 2026 at 11:20, your vehicle was correctly permitted. Under SI 2022/576 regulation 5(4)(a), this is a prescribed statutory ground: the contravention did not occur. The council's own permit database should confirm this; if the enforcement officer's system failed to find the permit, the failure is the council's system error, not yours.

Supporting ground: Authority must prove camera device approval

Because the PCN was issued by CCTV, enforcement is only lawful if the device used is of a type approved by the Secretary of State for enforcing this contravention, and operated in accordance with that approval (SI 2022/71 regulation 4 and regulation 7). The council must produce both the type-approval certificate for the specific device used and the on-site commissioning records for the camera at Bristol Street. Without those documents, the evidential basis for the PCN is incomplete.

The letter it wrotePCN BCC44219087

To: Parking Representations, Birmingham City Council

[Authority address from your Notice to Owner]

Date: 31 July 2026

Formal representations against Penalty Charge Notice BCC44219087

Vehicle GM68 NPR - Bristol Street resident permit bay - 3 April 2026

I am writing further to my earlier representations regarding Penalty Charge Notice BCC44219087, which the council has rejected. I am not satisfied that the rejection engaged with the substance of my case, and I am now making formal statutory representations against the Notice to Owner served on me in respect of this PCN. I intend to pursue this to the independent adjudicator if necessary.

Ground of representation: the alleged contravention did not occur

I rely on the ground set out in regulation 5(4)(a) of the Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/576): the alleged contravention did not occur.

At 11:20 on 3 April 2026, my vehicle GM68 NPR was parked in the Bristol Street resident permit bay. I held a valid resident permit for that zone - permit reference BCC-RP-778214 - which was purchased and active from 1 March 2026, more than five weeks before this PCN was issued. I enclose a copy of that permit, which confirms the permit reference, the vehicle registration GM68 NPR, the zone covering Bristol Street, and the commencement date of 1 March 2026. The permit was therefore fully in force at the date, time and location of the alleged contravention.

There was no contravention. A vehicle correctly permitted for the bay in which it is parked does not commit a contravention under code 12, which alleges parking in a residents' or shared use parking place without a valid permit. The council's own permit records will confirm the existence and validity of this permit, and I ask that they be checked before this matter goes any further.

Camera enforcement was not available for this contravention

The PCN records that it was issued on the basis of CCTV evidence and served by post. Since the restrictions introduced in 2015, an English authority may serve a PCN by post on the strength of an approved-device record only for a closed list of contravention types - broadly bus lanes, bus stops and stands, red routes and other no-stopping restrictions, and school entrance markings. A residents’ permit bay is not within that list. If this PCN was issued on camera evidence alone, the council had no power to proceed that way and the PCN falls on that ground irrespective of the permit position.

I therefore require the council to state the statutory basis on which this PCN was served by post, and to produce the civil enforcement officer’s contemporaneous notes if it maintains that an officer observed the contravention. If the council does maintain that an approved device was used, I further require the type-approval certificate for the specific device used at Bristol Street and the on-site commissioning records for that camera.

Supporting documents

I attach the following documents with these representations:

  • Penalty Charge Notice BCC44219087 - confirms the PCN reference, vehicle, date, time, location and contravention code.
  • Notice to Owner - confirms the enforcement stage and the basis on which these representations are made.
  • Resident permit BCC-RP-778214 - confirms that a valid permit was active for vehicle GM68 NPR in the Bristol Street resident permit zone from 1 March 2026, well before and at the time of the alleged contravention on 3 April 2026.

56-day time limit

I note that under SI 2022/576 regulation 6, the council must serve notice of its decision on these representations within 56 days of receiving them. If it fails to do so, regulation 6(7) deems the representations accepted and the PCN must be cancelled and any sum paid refunded.

Outcome sought

I ask the council to cancel PCN BCC44219087 in full. The vehicle was correctly permitted at the time and location of the alleged contravention, no contravention occurred, and this contravention was in any event not one the council may enforce by camera. If these representations are not accepted, I require a Notice of Rejection that engages individually with each point raised above and includes the prescribed Notice of Appeal form so that I may appeal to the independent adjudicator without delay.

Yours faithfully, [Your full name] [Your address] [Your contact number / email]

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Jurisdiction-aware

England, Wales and Scotland run different rules, and private car parks a different code again. Cato applies the right one. Northern Ireland isn't covered yet.

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