Hundreds of drivers to get refund for driving through notorious bus gate after government error

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Coventry council won't write to 13,000 drivers entitled to bus gate fine refunds

Coventry City Council is refusing to write to all motorists illegally fined for driving through city centre bus lanes and offer refunds.

In all 13,282 drivers are entitled to refunds totalling at least £398,460 because of a blunder over road signs , revealed by the Telegraph in June, but only 400 have applied to get their cash back.

Conservative councillors tried to get the council to write to all the fined drivers but their plan was defeated by councillors from the ruling Labour Party.

Councillors engaged in a heated debate on the issue on Tuesday at a full council meeting.

Tory Councillor Tim Mayer introduced the debate, with a motion calling on the council to write to all drivers who received the unlawful fines, explaining their right to apply for a refund and apologise for any undue stress caused.

He went on to describe the matter as a “moral issue” rather than a political one and said that although the council has agreed to give refunds and publicise the fact, not everybody affected read the paper or lived in Coventry.

Conservative Councillor Gary Ridley said the council could make a decision that would have “a real impact on people in this city”.

“If I was in that situation, I’d want to know,” he said. “It could make a real difference to some people.”

He stressed less than five per cent of motorists affected have claimed refunds so far.

Conservative Coun Marcus Lapsa said: “There’s been an error. You need to right that error.

“If you’re good decent people you have taken money from residents you shouldn’t have. 13,000 people have been fined. You’re holding that money and you will not refund it. It’s immoral.

“Shame on you for not treating the residents of Coventry right.”

Conservative leader Coun John Blundell says he was “astonished” by the Labour leadership’s position and said the council should simply refund all those affected.

He added: “It’s £400,000 that does not belong to Coventry City Council. It belongs to the people of Coventry who were wrongly fined.”

Defending the council’s position, Labour Councillor Jayne Innes disputed that motorists had been treated unfairly.

She said: “Let’s be clear this is all down to an error from the Department for Transport. It came as a result of an enquiry from the member of the public.”

Councillor Innes also reminded drivers they could claim refunds, said Coventry was in line with other councils on the issue and added: “We as a council stand by our decision not to write to other people.

“The bus gates were right. There was just a paintwork technicality in the details.”

She said with a £94million loss in funding compared to 2010 the city council had to be “careful with every penny”.

Council leader Councillor George Duggins said: “People have the opportunity to make an application. We are not closing the opportunity to seek reimbursement.”

He added that he felt sufficient time and energy had been invested in the matter already and would therefore not support writing directly to those fined unfairly.

All Conservative councillors backed the motion while all Labour councillors voted against.

Motorists who were issued with PCNs for driving through the bus gates at Warwick Row, Gosford Street and Park Road between December 10, 2015, and April 21, 2016, can email parkingenforcement@coventry.gov.uk to claim a refund on their fine.

Rotten to the core!

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Not one of the reasons given stand up to right thinking people. Coventry City Council are totally bankrupt of any form of decency, yet they preach to us!

W s (you know the word) the lot of them

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Council forced to remove 'dangerous' signs it had argued were 'fully compliant'



A ROAD SAFETY campaigner has won his battle with Coventry council over ‘dangerous’ signage around the city.

Westwood resident Richard Heneghan has spent the last 15 months lobbying the council to rectify incorrect signs round the city only to be assured numerous times by councillors that signage across the city was correct.

But the council has now made a u-turn on their assertions – confirming the removal of some signs and an investigation into further incorrect signage.

Among other concerns, Mr Heneghan complained about a one-way street sign at the junction of Park Road and Manor Road, a two-way street, and a bus gate sign at the start of Stoney Road which, if read correctly, would see motorists driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic.

But on two occasions he was rebuffed by senior council officials, who claimed in emails to Mr Heneghan that all of Coventry’s signage was compliant with the Department for Transport (DFT).

At a full council meeting in January then cabinet member for city services Coun Rachel Lancaster said that all the road signage in Coventry was DfT compliant – an assertion that was also echoed on October 11 at another full council meeting by current cabinet member, Coun Jayne Innes.

However, Coventry City Council confirmed on its Twitter account yesterday (November 22) that it would in fact be removing the sign at the junction of Park Road and Manor Road and would investigate the bus gate sign on Stoney Road.

Welcoming the news, Westwood Conservative councillor Tim Mayer said: “I have been appalled at the treatment of Mr Heneghan by senior councillors and surprised his concerns have been dismissed in the way they have been.

“The news that some of the signage of concern to Mr Heneghan is now being removed is a worry given the assurances myself and other councillors have been given.

“My major concern is that road safety has been compromised due to revenue driven through traffic fines.”

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Ah, the Ginger Gnome! - Couldn't find her own ar$e using both hands!

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Council removes MORE incorrect road signs it said were 'legally compliant' just two years ago



COVENTRY council has been forced to remove more misleading road signs, despite publicly asserting they were ‘fully compliant’ just two years ago.

Just days after removing a one-way sign on a two-way street at the junction of Park Road and Manor Road, a council officer has confirmed the suspicions of a campaigner that a ‘withflow’ bus lane sign on Stoney Road is also incorrect and will now be removed.

Following 15 months of campaigning and being rebuffed by Coventry councillors, Westwood resident Richard Heneghan has been proved right in his assertions that ‘potentially dangerous’ road signs had been installed around the city.

He argued the bus lane sign after the start on the bus gate at the start of Stoney Road could, if read correctly, see motorists driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic.

And now, after confirming an investigation into the sign on Twitter on November 22, a council officer has admitted the sign was incorrectly used on that stretch of road and would be removed.

In an email to Coun Tim Mayer, on November 30 the officer wrote: “I can confirm we have received the signage at the location and have removed the sign you have referred to which is after the bus gate.

“This sign should not have been used in this situation.”

But the decision signals a u-turn on assertions made in January 2014 when a council spokesperson told the media: “The signs installed to make people aware of the bus lane on Stoney Road comply with legal requirements.”

Mr Heneghan has also been publicly rebuffed by former cabinet member for city services Coun Rachel Lancaster and current cabinet member Coun Jayne Innes in full council meetings this year when both asserted that all road signage in Coventry was DfT compliant.

Conservative Westwood councillor, Tim Mayer is now calling on Couns Lancaster and Innes to apologise to Mr Heneghan.

[rebbonk]

There may well be a case of malfeasance in public office to be answered.

[dutchman]

Council sitting on £380,000 of unfair bus gate fines it doesn't want to tell drivers about



Coventry City Council is still refusing to pro-actively refund thousands of drivers wrongly fined for driving through bus gates which were not signposted correctly.

The technical signage error, revealed by the Telegraph earlier this year , meant 13,282 drivers were unfairly fined entitling them to refunds totalling at least £398,460.

But only a handful of drivers have claimed refunds with just £18,000 paid back so far and more about £380,000 still sitting in the council’s bank account.

Conservative councillors had asked for those charged to be contacted directly to inform them they were entitled to a refund, but the council’s ruling Labour group have repeatedly refused to citing costs and that the error was actually made by the Department for Transport rather than the council.

Labour Coun Innes Jayne Innes, the cabinet member for city services, was asked about the issue at a full council meeting this week.

She said: “So far £18,000 has been repaid to members of the public who have requested repayments.

“That’s a very small proportion of the number of people who would actually be entitled to them. But we’re not going to have a cut off date, we’re going to carry on letting people apply for those repayments.

“That leaves about £380,000 in council coffers.

“If there hadn’t been the typo in the letter from the Department for Transport, that money would have been in council coffers anyway.

“We’ll be using it as we would do normally would to fund the day to day business of the council.”

But the Conservative’s deputy leader, Coun Gary Crookes, slammed council bosses for unfairly fining drivers.

Coun Crookes said: “The signs were incorrect. Therefore no offence has been committed.

“If an offence had been committed, why are the council refunding charges to those who have applied?”

He added: “Would she not agree, that the fairest procedure for all is to pro-actively refund that money?

“Would it not be fair to refund money that was paid by card and write to the remainder? It would be a proactive gesture and would reduce the cost considerably by only having those who paid by cash or other means to write to.”

Coun Innes responded: “While I would like to see the Department for Transport refund the money, I don’t think they’re going to do that. We’ve written to them and they’ve refused.

“The reason people are penalised for entering bus gates and bus lanes is that when they do they put themselves and other road users at risk and in danger.

“That’s why we have penalty notices, to make people behave in a way that is safe and thoughtful.”

She added: “These members of the public did actually commit a motoring offence. Why should the taxpayers of Coventry pay out their money to somebody who was doing the wrong thing?”

Motorists who were issued with PCNs for driving through the bus gates at Warwick Row, Gosford Street and Park Road between December 10, 2015, and April 21, 2016, can email parkingenforcement@coventry.gov.uk to claim a refund on their fine.

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What a nice honourable council we have! - NOT

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False statement over bus gate refunds leads to call for senior councillor to resign



Coventry council’s Conservative opposition have called for the councillor in charge of the city’s roads to resign over the bus gate fiasco.

Conservative leader Coun John Blundell has said Labour Coun Jayne Innes, cabinet member for city services, should “consider her position”.

His comments came after Coun Innes wrongly told a full council meeting the Department for Transport had been written to and refused to cover the cost of refunding drivers wrongly fined for driving through incorrectly signed bus gates in the city.

She said: “While I would like to see the Department for Transport (DfT) refund the money, I don’t think they’re going to do that. We’ve written to them and they’ve refused.”

But it has since emerged the DfT has not been written to or refused to cover the costs of refunds.

A spokesman for the council said: “Council officers met with the DfT on July 27 to discuss the issue of refunds. The DfT indicated during that meeting that refunds are an issue for the council.

“We have not yet issued a formal claim to the DfT because, at this stage, we do not know the exact amount the council will be required to refund.

“Once we think the majority of the claims are in we will formally seek to recover the full amount from the DfT.”

Asked why Coun Jayne Innes had told a public meeting the DfT had been written to, she said: “I just mis-remembered. I forgot we had been down and done this as a face to face.”

Coun John Blundell said: “What she said was obviously incorrect and we would expect a public correction to be made at the earliest possible opportunity. Obviously she must have been flummoxed.

“While it’s an internal matter for the Labour Party as to which portfolio holder individuals hold, if one of my members had performed in the same way I would not consider they should continue to hold that particular brief.

“I think Coun Innes should consider her position.”

He added: “It is our understanding that the DfT could consider covering administrative costs such as writing to people to tell them they’re entitled to a refund.”

Coun Blundell said his party would also consider putting forward a motion at the next meeting of full council calling on Coun Innes to step down.

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If she has lied, she must go.