About the Joint Committee

Under the law relating to civil traffic enforcement, authorities issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to motorists for contravening restrictions also have a statutory duty to make provision for independent legal adjudication of any appeals resulting from such penalties.

Over 300 local authorities in England (outside London) and Wales exercise this statutory duty together through a local government joint committee, Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London (PATROL), formed under Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972. The regulations provide for PATROL to include both English and Welsh authorities.

The independent adjudication the PATROL Joint Committee provides for is delivered by the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (opens in new tab). PATROL authorities provide resources to support the independent lawyer adjudicators and their support staff, who together comprise the Tribunal.

Independence of the Tribunal from PATROL

The adjudicators of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal are independent lawyers, appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and are exercising a judicial function. They are not employees of the PATROL Joint Committee or member authorities.

The roles of – and relationship between – the Tribunal and PATROL, as well as the civil enforcement of traffic penalties in England (outside London) and Wales, are underpinned in legislation by the Traffic Management Act 2004 and the Transport Act 2000, as well as regulations (differing for England and Wales) made under these Acts.

Restrictions

PATROL authorities enforce a wide range of traffic restrictions, with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal deciding any resulting appeals against penalty charges.

  • Parking: England (outside London) and Wales
  • Bus Lanes and Moving Traffic: England (outside London) and Wales
  • Road User Charging:
    • Clean Air Zones: England (outside London) only
    • Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing (‘Dart Charge’)
    • Mersey Gateway / Silver Jubilee Bridge Crossings (‘Merseyflow’)
    • Durham Road User Charge Zone
  • Littering from Vehicles: England (outside London) only

Joint Committee function and activities

Governance

Membership, chairs and administration

The 300+ authorities in England (outside London) and Wales that undertake civil traffic enforcement are eligible to join PATROL, whereby a councillor from the authorities joins the Joint Committee to contribute to the administering of the adjudication services and related activities, as well as to represent their authority’s interests, share experience and insights.

Separate Memoranda of Understanding allow joint committee membership (and the provision for adjudication) for schemes operated by other charging authorities; for example, the Secretary of State for Transport at the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing (‘Dart Charge’) scheme.

The Joint Committee elects a Chair and Vice Chair each year to lead the committee’s agenda. The current PATROL Chair is Councillor Stuart Hughes of Devon County Council.

Like other local government joint committees, PATROL also appoints a lead or ‘host’ authority – a role that has been undertaken by Cheshire East Council since 2013. Consequently, PATROL’s administrative office and staff are based in Wilmslow, Cheshire, led by Director Laura Padden. The office of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal is also based in Wilmslow for administrative efficiency.

Chair
Councillor Stuart Hughes
Devon

Vice Chair
Councillor Graham Burgess
Hampshire

PATROL Director
Laura Padden

Schedule of meetings

The PATROL Joint Committee hosts an Annual Meeting of all authority committee members in July, with ongoing business throughout the rest of the year delegated to an Executive Sub-Committee, which meets in January and October. The Executive Sub-Committee comprises of councillors from the main Joint Committee who have volunteered to sit.

2025/26 Meetings

  • 15 July 2025: Joint Committee Annual Meeting
  • 14 October 2025: Executive Sub-Committee Meeting
  • 20 January 2026: Executive Sub-Committee Meeting

Agendas, papers and minutes from past meetings are published online.

Other activities

With such an extensive local authority membership, PATROL is uniquely placed to understand the authority perspective on civil enforcement, while at the same time having regard to the issues that matter to motorists through the experience of the appeals to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

Consequently, PATROL undertakes a series of wider activities that both support member authorities and raise awareness of traffic management and enforcement matters in Government, among industry stakeholders and the public.

Driving Improvement Awards

Log of PATROL Driving Improvement Awards

Delivering the annual Driving Improvement Awards (DIAs) programme to inspire and promotes public engagement from local authorities around their efforts to deliver civil traffic management and enforcement.

PATROL member authorities are offered the chance to submit a bid for funding to develop a public awareness campaign or activity to effect change in their area (and be scalable nationally), with bids encouraged around a specific theme each year.

Annual reporting resources

Mock ups of screens showing PATROL Annual Report Toolkit

Maintaining resources and best practice online to aid authorities in producing engaging, informative Annual Reports for the public on traffic management and enforcement services and activities.

(Opens external website)

Local Authority User Groups

Engaging with local authorities to share updates on the traffic management landscape, insights from appeals, onboarding and the distribution of new internal tools.

Public affairs, media relations and external communications

Regular liaison with the UK Government, local government and industry stakeholders on emerging traffic management topics, new policy and exisiting challenges, as well as engagement with the media and public, as appropriate.