TfL Ref: 1853-1718

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 11 October 2017 asking for information on the non payment of the Congestion Charge.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.

TfL issues Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for non-payment of the Congestion Charge (CC), for non-compliance with the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and for red route parking and moving traffic contraventions on our road network. While cross border enforcement is understood to be a difficult process for all enforcement agencies across the UK, we do everything possible to ensure a consistent level of enforcement for all road users. The current EU data exchange legislation only relates to criminal offences such as speeding and does not cover civil offences such as those enforced by TfL, however we use a dedicated European Debt Recovery Agency which has established links with over 20 vehicle licensing authorities across Europe and issues Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) where the vehicle keeper details of the vehicle that committed the contravention is available.

The attached table (FOI-1853-1718 Non-UK Vehicles) shows the number of PCNs issued to vehicles registered outside the UK for CC, LEZ and red route contraventions between 1 January 2012 and 30 September 2017, the number of those PCNs outstanding, and the amount outstanding.

We publish a quarterly factsheet showing the amount owed by embassies for non-payment of the Congestion Charge in the Finance, Operations and Performance section of our website at https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/congestion-charge. As stated in the factsheet, we and the UK Government are clear that the Congestion Charge is a charge for a service and not a tax. This means that diplomats are not exempt from paying it. Around three quarters of embassies in London do pay the charge, but there remains a stubborn minority who refuse to do so, despite our representations through diplomatic channels. We will continue to pursue all unpaid Congestion Charge fees and related penalty charge notices and are pushing for the matter to be taken up at the International Courts of Justice.

Every year, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs makes a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) to Parliament listing diplomatic missions and international organisations in the UK with unpaid parking fines over £1,000. TfL, together with other London authorities, provides details of all unpaid penalties incurred by diplomats annually to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for the purposes of the WMS. The FCO then formally write to the relevant embassies requesting payment and reminding them of their obligations under international law to pay such fines and accrued debts. The most recent WMS, listing fines incurred in London in 2016, was made in October 2017: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-10-11/HCWS154/

The attached table (FOI-1853-1718 Diplomatic Vehicles) shows details of PCNs issued for contraventions between 1 January 2012 and 30 October 2017 to vehicles known to TfL to be used by diplomatic missions at the time of the contravention.

All TfL employees are given a staff Oyster card when they join the company. A nominee pass can be given to a member of the same address over the age of 16. This does not have to be a partner or relative. We are therefore unable to provide the number of journeys made by staff or relatives of staff who qualify for free travel as we don’t record the relationship of the person to the member of staff who has been given the nominee pass. Children under the age of 16 cannot get free travel on TfL services because they are related to an employee.

However we can work out the number of weekly average journeys by all TfL staff members over the last two months. Please contact us if you would like to receive further information on this.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

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