Statutory Instrument amends Civil Procedures Rules in relation to parking and road traffic enforcement

Following consultation, the Civil Procedure Rules Committee has made changes to Part 75 of the Civil Procedure Rules, one section of which impacts directly on the enforcement of warrants of control.

No need to reseal the warrant on change of address

The primary impact for enforcement is in Rule 75.7(7)-(10). Previously the rule stated that if the debtor had moved from the address shown on the warrant, the local authority may apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) to request a reissue of the warrant with a new address.

We have always advised clients that the use of the word “may” rather than ‘shall’, meant this was optional, rather than mandatory and was, therefore, an unnecessary burden for both local authorities and their enforcement partners.

Under these circumstances, we issued a new notice of enforcement, as required under the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 (TCoG), to restart the Schedule 12 procedure.

However, some local authorities did undertake the resealing process which caused unnecessary delays and a cost in time and activity.

Some time ago, CIVEA obtained legal advice on this matter and Counsel confirmed that the practice was indeed optional. This has now been addressed through The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2026 which comes into force on 1st
October 2026.

The new process

The new process aligns with the process we have always used which simply requires a new notice of enforcement to be given where the address has changed since the issue of the warrant.

You can see the full explanatory memorandum on the Government’s Legislation website.