Agenda Item: 8D

Wolverhampton City Council OPEN EXECUTIVE

DECISION ITEM (AMBER)
Resources Cabinet Panel RESOURCES PANEL Date 4th May 2010

Portfolio(s) REGENERATION & ENTERPRISE

Originating Service Group(s) REGENERATION & ENVIRONMENT

DENISE ECCLESON STEVE WOODWARD KEY DECISION YES

Contact Officer(s)/
Ext 0301 EXT 4260 IN FORWARD PLAN YES
Telephone Number(s)

Title ANNUAL REPORT - PARKING ENFORCEMENT 2008/2009

Recommendation

The Resources Panel is recommended to endorse this Annual Report having noted the
following key matters detailed in the report:

• The financial and statistical analysis regarding Penalty Charge Notice income in
Appendix A

• The statistical information regarding the service of Penalty Charge Notices in

Appendix B

• The mandatory requirement under the Traffic Management Act to publish the
report in the public domain.
 Annual Report – Parking Enforcement

1. PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 To provide members with a financial, operational and performance review

of the Parking Enforcement Service, April 1st 2008 to March 31st 2009.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1 Operational guidance published by the Department for Transport requires that
authorities with Civil Parking Enforcement powers produce an Annual Report
about their enforcement activities. It is now a mandatory requirement that financial,
statistical and performance information for 2008/2009 onwards, be publicly
available. The report is prepared to be made publicly available in order to demonstrate
the Council’s commitment to transparency and thereby improve compliance and greater
understanding.

3. REPORT DETAIL

3.1 Performance and Statistics: Members will appreciate that income recovery is subject to
a lag effect arising from appeals, payment defaults etc. Nevertheless it is possible to
make a reasonable prediction for recovery in 2008/2009 based on the experience from
2007/2008.

3.2 A total of 23,706 PCN,s (Penalty Charge Notices) were served, providing a recovery to
date of £632,086 for the period 1st April 2008 to 31st March, 2009. Final recovery for the
year is projected to be £679,732. Details of the month by month analysis of income for
2008/9 are provided in Appendix A, data for 2007/2008 is also provided for comparison.

3.3 Details of the month by month numbers of PCN,s served are provided in Appendix B,
data for 2007/8 is also provided for comparison. Analysis of the served PCN,s reveals
the following:

• 66.77% of income has been recovered to date (15,811 PCN’s): (This figure is
expected to rise to over 72% when the income accounts for the year are finally
closed).

• 19.00% of cases have been stopped. (4,792 PCN’s): (Stopped cases arise from
CEO error, vehicle ‘drive aways’ or, due to a successful challenge, representation or
appeal).

• 14.23% of cases are still pending. (3,103PCN’s).

3.4 The Annual Report and Parking Policy for Wolverhampton are to be accessible on the
Council’s web pages. The publication of this information is a mandatory requirement of
the Traffic Management Act.
3.5 Parking Enforcement in Wolverhampton is subject to a robust Challenge, representation
and appeal process. The statistics for which are as follows:

Number of higher-level Penalty Charge Notices (PCN’s) issued for on-street 13,347
parking contraventions?
Number of lower-level PCN’s issued for on-street parking contraventions? 10,359
Total number of PCN’s issued. 23,706
Number of PCN’s paid at the discount rate. 11,681
Number of PCN’s paid at the non-discount rate. 3,115
Total number paid to date. 14,796
Charge Certificates registered at the Parking Enforcement 4,308
Centre?
PCN’s subject of representations? 4,673
PCN’s cancelled as a result of these representations. 1,173
Representations resulting in cases progressing for adjudication. 93

Of the 23,706 PCN’s served, just 93 cases went to independent adjudication:

o 24 appeals were not contested as additional evidence was presented to the Council.
o 42 appeals were rejected by the adjudicator.
o 27 appeals were allowed by the adjudicator.

3.6 The following statistics relate to informal challenges and are provided for completeness.
Parking Enforcement is subject to a robust challenge representation and appeals
process and informal challenges relate to cases less than 28 days old and prior to the
Legal Notice to Owner being served. It should be noted that the same case may be
registered on the legal system up to 3 times, at informal challenge and again at
representation and appeal stages.

Informal challenges received 4,649

Informal challenges accepted 1,967
Informal challenges rejected 2,682

3.7 Operational Management: All Penalty Charge Notice transactions are dealt with in-
house by the Parking Services Team. The cost of this operation is £214,000 per annum.
The enforcement service is provided by APCOA who also provide a similar service for
Sandwell, Walsall and Solihull. The core hours of Parking Enforcement are 7am to 8pm
each day, Monday to Saturday and 10am to 2pm on Sundays. For football matches or
other events the deployment is altered accordingly. Thirteen Civil Enforcement Officers
(CEO’s) are deployed each day Monday to Saturday and two on Sundays. One evening
each month officers are deployed until 11pm. This enables the service to respond to
specific situations which might be reported by Urban Traffic Control Centre or the police.
Deployed hours of enforcement in 2008/2009 were 25,087 hrs at a cost of £420,698.
3.8 Traffic Management Act 2004: The new legislation was introduced on March 31st 2008
and requires that enforcement should take account of the seriousness of the
contravention. For example parking on a double or single yellow line attracts a higher
penalty charge than overstaying in a limited waiting bay or Pay and Display car-park
space.

3.9 New Initiatives: Over the next 12 months consideration will be given to the introduction
of CCTV enforcement with the possibility of sharing resources with other authorities in
the region. A joint project with Urban Traffic Control will also consider the introduction of
the enforcement of bus lanes. Bicycle patrols will be introduced for Parking Enforcement
in the summer of 2010 replacing 2 of the current mopeds in use.

3.10 Regional developments: To promote consistency in the region a Regional Parking

Managers Group has been formed which reports directly to the regional Traffic Managers
Group. The group is chaired by the Parking Services Manager for Wolverhampton.
Through this regional group, the framework of the tendered Bailiff Service contract for the
recovery of parking enforcement debt in Wolverhampton will be utilised by other
authorities in the region.

3.11 2009/2010: From April 2009 the Parking Services Team became also responsible for:

• Car Park Management;

• Highway dispensation permits;
• Pay and Display bay permit issue and payments
• Match day parking permit applications and permits;
• Staff parking arrangements;
• On-Street Pay and Display fault reporting and customer help line;
• On-street and off-street Pay and Display maintenance.

Therefore, the annual report for 2009/2010 will also detail the financial, operational and
performance information for these additional areas. Changes undertaken to the reporting
platform of the PCN management system will also enable the provision and publication
of greater detail in regard to the service and cancellation of Penalty Charge Notices for
2009/2010.

3.12 Achievements: Civil Parking Enforcement in Wolverhampton enables a more proactive

approach to ensuring that parking restrictions established by the Council in consultation
with local communities are effective and fit for purpose. From feedback received it is
already clear that this arm of Commercial Services and Public Realm provides a valuable
tool in dealing with inconsiderate and dangerous parking. This is evidenced in the
following key areas:

3.12.1 Dangerous and Inconsiderate Parking at Schools: This problem is far from
being resolved, but the increased presence of C.E.O’s has been well received by
schools and local residents who are affected by inconsiderate parking. Whilst the
enforcement of parking regulations at schools is costly when comparing
resources used to income received, it is considered that progress is being made
in discouraging this type of car journey.

3.12.2 Improper Use of Disabled Bays and Fraudulent/Misuse of Blue Badges. The
City’s disabled bays and the Blue Badge Scheme are rigorously enforced and
ensure space is available for genuine badge holders. There has been a
significant reduction in fraudulent and misused badges in the City.
 3.12.3 Congestion at Peak Times on the Arterial Routes Into and Out of the City:
Arterial routes are enforced at peak times at key locations. Improvements to
traffic flow have been achieved particularly in Chapel Ash.

3.12.4 Public Events, Funerals and a General Presence: Resources are tailored and
directed to deal with traffic issues arising from events. The team are trained to
respond sensitively to individual situations. Coordination with the Licensing
Service enables planning for events that may impact on local residents or cause
congestion. Enforcement Officers are then deployed in a timely manner to advise
and manage parking for events. Regular visible patrols by uniformed
enforcement officers contribute to maintaining a safe environment in our
communities. In addition maintenance issues such as faded lines and missing
signs are reported by the CEO’S on their handheld computers ensuring quality
and consistency in Traffic Regulation Order compliance.

4. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

4.1 Operational costs and income for the Parking Enforcement Service in 2008/09 are as
follows:-

Expenditure Income
Employees 152,000 PCN’s actual 632,000-
to date
Premises 17,000 Bailiff action 58,000-
Travel 3,000 Total Income £680,000-
Office 44,000 Net income £18,000
Enforcement 421,000
Misc expenses 22,000
Support Services 3,000
Total Expenditure £662,000

The final net income is expected to rise to approximately £65,000 if projected income
levels are achieved, as stated in paragraph 3.2

4.2 The above statement shows that the service was funded entirely enforcement income in
2008/09.

4.3 Members should note that fees for Penalty Charge Notice are set by legislation and not
at the discretion of the authority (NS/26042010/X).

5. EQUALITIES

5.1 An equality impact assessment was undertaken with this report - ref PS005

• Consultation with neighbouring authorities in the region, related cabinet reports and
budget reports were used in our assessment;
• No adverse impact was identified;
• It was not necessary to modify the report as a result of the assessment;
• We will continue to assess the Parking Enforcement Service and meet with
residential groups, disability groups and associations.
6. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

6.1 Parking Policy is a key element of the Council’s overall Transportation Strategy for which
environmental considerations are an integral element.

7. BACKGROUND PAPERS

7.1 Annual review of parking enforcement - 2007/2008 - 30th Sept. 2008

Resources panel - Traffic management act 2004 - further implications 26th February2008

Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Panel – Decriminalised Parking – Progress -

4th September 2007.

Regenerating Wolverhampton Cabinet Team – 24.07.00 – “Town Centre Parking –

Strategic Issues”

Regenerating Wolverhampton Cabinet Team – 24.11.00 – “Decriminalised parking

Enforcement (DPE)”

West Midlands Planning and Transportation Sub-Committee – 26.03.2004 –

“Decriminalised Parking Study”

Cabinet – 24.11.04 - “Decriminalised Parking Enforcement”

Regenerating Wolverhampton Scrutiny Panel 18 October 2005 – “Minutes of Meeting”

Cabinet – 1.02.06 - “Decriminalised Parking Enforcement – Service Delivery”

Parking Services 2007/2008 Income Appendix A

Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Total

Chipside (Full PCN

Cycle @
10/02/2010) £56,668.00 £55,613.42 £56,321.81 £50,599.32 £43,701.82 £53,894.88 £62,785.00 £53,875.30 £66,265.52 £49,341.00 £46,228.99 £51,213.80 £646,508.86

Actual Income £40,805.00 £43,323.00 £43,800.00 £48,376.01 £38,452.00 £41,230.00 £50,662.00 £50,175.00 £47,208.00 £51,911.00 £46,963.00 £45,826.50 £548,731.51

£70,000.00

£60,000.00
£50,000.00
£40,000.00
£30,000.00

£20,000.00
£10,000.00

£0.00
Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08

Chipside (Full PCN Cycle @ 10/02/2010) Actual Income

Parking Services 2008/2009 Income

Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Total

Chipside (Full PCN

Cycle @
10/02/2010) £56,247.35 £50,304.63 £44,365.48 £52,556.98 £44,403.20 £58,693.55 £57,628.20 £61,606.83 £63,311.02 £48,060.33 £42,519.55 £52,389.44 £632,086.56

Actual Income £45,025.00 £46,118.16 £49,303.77 £44,880.00 £40,504.00 £58,775.71 £61,305.74 £55,570.42 £56,292.00 £64,876.82 £49,515.27 £63,131.43 £635,298.32

£70,000.00

£60,000.00

£50,000.00

£40,000.00

£30,000.00

£20,000.00

£10,000.00

£0.00
Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09

Chipside (Full PCN Cycle @ 10/02/2010) Actual Income

PCN's Issued 2007/2008 Appendix B

Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Total

Actual PCN's
issued 1927 1854 1863 1684 1394 1776 2031 1804 2177 1623 1587 1755 21475

Actual PCN's issued

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08

Actual PCN's issued

PCN's Issued 2008/2009

Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Total

Actual PCN's
issued 2004 1798 1762 2059 1679 2246 2200 2187 2205 1801 1640 2135 23716

Actual PCN's issued

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09

Actual PCN's issued