Where a borough council believes that a waste receptacle contravention has occurred, it may serve a Penalty Charge Notice on the person appearing to them to be the occupier of the premises.
The Penalty Charge Notice will usually be served by post.
Your next steps:
Pay the penalty charge
- Payment details are on the Penalty Charge Notice.
- You should pay within 28 days beginning with the date of the notice. If the borough council receives payment within the first 14 days, you only have to pay 60% of the penalty.
or:
Make representations to the borough council explaining why you think you should not have to pay the penalty charge
The grounds on which you may make representations are:
- No failure to comply with the requirements in respect of which the penalty charge was alleged to have become payable;
- The receptacles in which household waste is placed for collection from the premises are adequate;
- There was a reasonable excuse for the failure to comply with the said requirement;
- In the case of a failure to comply with any requirement relating to the periods during which receptacles should be placed on a highway, no sign relating to those requirements was displayed on the side of the road as required;
- The requirement is unreasonable;
- The penalty charge exceeded the amount applicable in the circumstances of the case;
- The recipient:
- never was the occupier of the premises in question; or
- had ceased to be their occupier before the date on which the penalty charge became payable; or
- became the occupier after that date.
AND has provided a statement of the name and address of the occupier (if that information is in the recipient's possession).
Even if one of these grounds does not apply, you may also ask the borough council to consider other reasons for cancelling the penalty, such as mitigation. However, the borough council is only bound to cancel the Penalty Charge Notice if they accept that one of the grounds above applies.
When making representations you should:
- Explain your reasons fully and clearly;
- Send clear copies of any relevant documents, keeping originals;
- Make sure the borough council receives your representations within 28 days of the date the Penalty Charge Notice is issued. They may disregard representations received later. They may consider late representations, but do not have to.
The borough council considers your representations
The borough council must:
- Consider representations received in time;
- Decide whether to accept or reject them;
- Send to the person who made the representations a Notice of Acceptance (if it accepts them) or a Notice of Rejection and a Notice of Appeal form (if it does not accept them).
- If it has accepted the representations, cancel the Penalty Charge Notice.
The adjudicators have decided that a borough council should normally respond to representations within 3 months.
Notice of Acceptance
If you receive a Notice of Acceptance, you will not have to pay the penalty and you need take no further action.
Notice of Rejection
The person to whom a Notice of Rejection has been issued has 28 days, beginning with the date of service of that notice, to either:
- Pay the Penalty Charge Notice; or
- Appeal to the adjudicator. A Notice of Appeal form should have been sent to you by the borough council with the Notice of Acceptance. If this form is not enclosed, the borough council should be contacted to obtain one.
If you wish to appeal to the adjudicator later than the 28 days, you should still send your appeal but you must say on the appeal form why it is late. The adjudicator will then decide whether to allow you to appeal late.
If the penalty charge is not paid or an appeal made within the 28 days allowed, the borough council may issue a Charge Certificate.
Notice of Appeal
This is the form which the borough council should send with their Notice of Rejection.
The grounds of appeal are the same as for making representations:
- No failure to comply with the requirements in respect of which the penalty charge was alleged to have become payable;
- The receptacles in which household waste is placed for collection from the premises are adequate;
- There was a reasonable excuse for the failure to comply with the said requirement;
- In the case of a failure to comply with any requirement relating to the periods during which receptacles should be placed on a highway, no sign relating to those requirements was displayed on the side of the road as required;
- The requirement is unreasonable;
- The penalty charge exceeded the amount applicable in the circumstances of the case;
- The recipient:
- never was the occupier of the premises in question; or
- had ceased to be their occupier before the date on which the penalty charge became payable; or
- became the occupier after that date.
AND has provided a statement of the name and address of the occupier (if that information is in the recipient's possession).
The adjudicator can only allow an appeal if one of these grounds applies. The adjudicator cannot allow an appeal for other reasons, e.g. mitigating circumstances.
Information on how to appeal to the adjudicator
Charge Certificate
This is a notice issued by the borough council increasing the penalty charge by 100%.
The borough council may issue a charge certificate where:
- The penalty has not been paid and no representations against the penalty have been made to the borough council within 28 days of the date on which the Penalty Charge Notice is served; or
- Representations have been made and a Notice of Rejection has been issued by the borough council, but the penalty has not been paid and no appeal has been filed wit hthe adjudicators within 28 days of the date on which the Notice of Rejection was served; or
- An unsuccessful appeal has been made against a Notice of Rejection to an adjudicator, but the penalty has not been paid within 28 days of the date on which the adjudicator's decision is served on the appellant; or
- An appeal against a Notice of Rejection is withdrawn before a decision is made by an adjudicator, but payment has not been made within14 days of the date on which the appeal is withdrawn.
Registration of Debt and Order for Recovery
If after 14 days of a charge certificate being served the penalty charge is still not paid, the borough council may register it as a debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
The borough council may then recover the penalty through the county court:
The county court, on application from the borough council, will authorise the borough council to draw up an Order for Recovery. The borough council will serve this order on you, with a Statutory Declaration form.
If the penalty is not then paid, the borough council may apply to the court for a Warrant of Execution.
Your next steps
Pay the outstanding charge or lodge a statutory declaration at the Traffic Enforcement Centre.
Statutory Declaration
Where an Order for Recovery has been made, liability for the penalty can then only be challenged in the following circumstances:
- You did not receive the Penalty Charge Notice in question; or
- You made representations to the borough council concerned but did not receive a Notice of Rejection; or
- You appealed to the adjudicator against the rejection by the borough council of your representations but had no response to the appeal.
If, and only if, one of these applies, you may make a statutory declaration.
The completed statutory declaration should be returned to the Traffic Enforcement Centre within 21 days beginning with the date of service of the Order for Recovery, although there are provisions for the court to allow longer.
A statutory declaration may only be made by the person against whom an Order for Recovery has been made.
It is a criminal offence to make a false statutory declaration.
For information available from the Traffic Enforcement Centre on the statutory declaration procedure and downloadable forms, visit the courts service website.
Next steps:
What happens next depends on the grounds for making the statutory declaration.
- If the ground is that the Penalty Charge Notice was not received, the Order for Recovery, Charge Certificate and Penalty Charge Notice are cancelled. The borough council may then issue a new Penalty Charge Notice;
- If the ground is that the Notice of Rejection or a decision from the adjudicator was not received, the borough council must refer the statutory declaration to the adjudicator who will decide what will happen next.