Please see update I have had from Ealing Council which pretty much confirms that:Thank you for your email. Apologies I have not updated you sooner on my investigation into permit renewals. I have recently taken over the back office notice processing contract and have been working with the system provider to ensure processes are working as efficiently as possible. There was a slight system glitch resulting in some residents not receiving a reminder and the issue was linked to the sequence on particular permits which were due for renewal. This resulted in the first renewal reminder being sent however, the subsequent renewal a year later was being missed for some residents. The issue has been resolved as of today and all resident reminders will be going out as intended. We have now put a system in place to ensure this is regularly monitored and any further issues are investigated and promptly resolved. Residents will now receive a renewal reminder email 28 days before expiry and if not renewed, a further reminder will be sent out 7 days before the permit expires. In addition to this, I am working on a permit checker tool that will be available on our website that will allow residents to enter their vehicle registration number and be informed of when the permit is due to expire. This tool will work in a similar way to the DVLA car tax checker website. As you have rightly mentioned, the requirement to send out renewal reminders is not obligatory however, I appreciate residents are relying on receiving one to renew their permit and have been accustomed to this over a period of time. I therefore hope the initial reminder along with the additional 7 day reminder with the permit checker tool will provide sufficient opportunity for residents to renew their permits on time. With respect to any PCNs that have already been issued and are challenged on the basis that a renewal was not received and we have no record of one going out, these will be looked into favourably. Refunds will also be issued for anyone who has paid for their PCN and we have no evidence of a renewal reminder being sent to the email address we hold on the permit record. I must stress that the previous agreement to cancel and refund PCNs and our position as mentioned does not set a precedent for any future reminder issues, especially where at least one renewal reminder has been issued and the permit checker tool is available to use. I have outlined the following ways in which a resident is able to ascertain when their permit is due to expire; By logging into their permit account with their username and passwordBy emailing parkingservices@ealing.gov.uk to obtain confirmationBy leaving a voicemail on 0208 825 6677 option 5 and then 3 to request a call back28 day renewal reminder will be sent to residents notifying themA further 7 days renewal reminder will be sent where the permit has not been renewedPermit checker tool (will be available on our website in the near future) I hope this provides clarity on the issue and assurance that this has now been addressed.
Andrew Steed ● 2172d