At the request of London Councils (formerly the Association for London Government), the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State for Transport have agreed the introduction of a tiered system for Penalty Charge Notices plus other charges as detailed below. These changes took place on the 1st July 2007. The Council did not have any choice in this as it is compulsory.

The introduction of differential penalties means that there is two levels for Penalty Charge Notices issued in relation to parking violations. As such, the charges issued within the London Borough of Waltham Forest changed on the 1st July 2007 to:

For parking penalties issued at the higher rate
New charges Previous charges
£100 reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days from the date the Penalty Charge Notice is issued £80/£40

For parking penalties issued at the lower rate
New charges Previous charges
£60 reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days from the date the Penalty Charge Notice is issued £80/£40

For penalties issued for bus lane violations and moving traffic contraventions
New charges Previous charges
£120 reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days from the date the Penalty Charge Notice is issued £100/£50

A full list of contraventions at each rate can be found here.

Other additional parking charges
New charges Previous charges
£70 to release from clamp (plus payment of the penalty charge) £65 (plus payment of the penalty charge)
£200 to release from pound (plus payment of the penalty charge) £150 (plus payment of the penalty charge)
£40 storage (per day) (plus payment of the penalty charge) £25 (plus payment of the penalty charge)
£70 disposal from the pound £65

There is also one other major change and that is if a penalty is issued for the non display of a valid permit or what was displayed was more than 7 days out of date the penalty will be at the higher rate £100/£50

However, if a motorist provides proof that they were visiting a resident (a Visitor Parking Permit validated for the date/time that would have been valid at the time/location where the vehicle was parked when the penalty was issued), the Council can use discretion to reduce the value of the penalty to that of the lower rate £60/£30.  This offer is valid up until the time when a Charge Certificate is issued when the penalty would revert back to its original value (£100) + 50% so the sum owed at that stage will be £150.