eastleigh bc sept 2009

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Annual Report on

Parking Enforcement

Operations2008/2009


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Eastleigh Borough Council

Introduction

1. This is the first Annual report produced by Eastleigh Borough Council inaccordance with the guidance to Local Authorities contained within Chapter 4of the Department for Transport operational guidance first published in March2008. The report also takes due regard of the requirements of the TrafficManagement Act 2004 and the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

2. Eastleigh Borough Council commenced decriminalised parking enforcementunder the Road Traffic Act 1991 in October 2004 which gave the Council(through an agency agreement with HCC) powers to enforce on-street parkingregulations as well as off-street car parking where a penalty charge notice(pcn) is issued for a parking contravention.

Background

3. The Council is responsible for the delivery of parking enforcement in supportof the Councils Traffic Management Agency responsibilities.

4. In addition, the parking service is also responsible for the administration of theResidents Parking Scheme, the maintenance of on and off-street ticketmachines, car parks, CCTV and the meals-on-wheels service.

Scope

5. This document describes the enforcement methodologies and providesperformance data for the Councils enforcement and parking activities fromthe 1st April 2008 to the 31st March 2009.

Parking Enforcement Objectives

6. Parking enforcement is undertaken between 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week.Enforcement can be undertaken outside these hours for a specific parkingproblem.

7. The Council does not set targets on the issuing of pcns. The primary aim ofparking enforcement is traffic management and within that overall aim theservice seeks to focus on the following key objectives:

To reduce traffic congestion resulting from illegally parked vehicles;

To contribute towards road safety;

Through reducing congestion, to contribute towards improvements in airquality;

To assist the timely operation of public transport;

To facilitate access and response times for emergency services;

To manage kerb space and access to parking in support of residents,businesses, leisure and visitors parking; and

To ensure improved quality of residents area, by enforcement ofresidents parking schemes.

The Services Provided

Off-Street Car Parks


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8. The Councils Parking Services manages 17 off-street parking places of which11 are pay and display parking places. These are mainly located withinEastleigh Town Centre and are listed in Appendix A.

9. The parking tariffs adopted by the Council seek to support traffic managementby influencing the economic viability of the town centre and other parishcentres, highway use and to confirm to the Councils corporate charging

policy. The car park tariffs are listed in Appendix B.

10. The Borough Council has invested over the years in CCTV and improvedlighting to help reduce the fear of crime and vehicle crime, in a number oftown centre car parks. During 2008/09 there were two reported thefts ofmotor vehicles, one tampering of a vehicle and 3 thefts from a motor vehiclewithin the town centre car parks.

11. The Council has currently 6 car parks which have been awarded theParkmark award which is an initiative of the Association of Chief PoliceOffices. These sites have been vetted by the Police and each car park has

measures in place to create a safe environment for both the motorist and thevehicle.

Residents Parking Scheme

12. There are 10 permit parking areas within the Borough. These have beenintroduced to ensure that there is a balance between the needs for residentsto be able to park near their homes and the needs of other motorists.

13. There are 4 main types of permits that allow motorists to park in areas/bayswhere controlled parking schemes apply:

Residents permits

Business permits

Visitors permits

Professional Carers/Carers permits

Eastleigh Town Centre Parking Permits

14. The total number of permits issued within Eastleigh Town Centre whichinclude full, visitors, carers and business permits is as follows.

Zone No. of Permits Issued

1 16952 18723 19994 15095 2786 3997 1008 1284

9 928Professional Carers/Carers 207Grand Total 10271


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15. The cost of permits is set out below:

Permit Charge1st No Charge2nd 35.003rd 65.00

(25 inspection fee charged to ensure theproperty does not have alternative off-roadparking)

Visitors No ChargeCarers No Charge

Professional Carers 35.00Temporary Visitors 42.00 for 6 days

1st Business 35.002nd Business 65.003rd Business 95.00 if agreed4th Business 125.00 if agreed

Hamble-le-Rice Parking Scheme

16. The total number of permits issued in Hamble-le-Rice which entitles residentsand businesses to park in the Square is 314.

17. The current cost for a residents permit is 50 and for a business a permit is100, with these charges being subsidised by the Local Area Committee.

Dispensation and Suspension

18. A parking dispensation allows a commercial vehicle to park on a waitingrestriction (yellow line) during restricted hours in circumstances where thevehicle needs to be close to a specific location, for example building/shopfitting work where access is required to load and unload tools or materials.

19. The cost for the issue of a parking dispensation is 15.00 or 25.00 if requiredwithin 7 days.

20. A parking suspension allows a motorist to park for a specific purpose in a payand display bay during restricted hours. For example for carrying out worksthat require the driver to park close to a building or load or unload tools or

materials.

21. The cost for the issue of a parking suspension is 15.00 or 25.00 if requiredwithin 7 days.

School Enforcement

22. The regulations for enforcement of schools when schools are opening andclosing is seen as a key priority to ensure the safe movement of pedestriansand children.

23. The parking services works closely with the Sustainable Transport Team inreducing the number of vehicle movements to and from schools andencouraging other modes of transport through School Travel Plans.


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24. During the year 489 visits by Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) were made to22 schools within the Borough and are broken down as follows.

Schools Summary from 01.04.08 - 31.03.09 VISITS PCN'S CAT.

Berywood Primary School Maunsell Way Hedge End 69 9A

Botley Primary School High Street Botley 4 0 CBursledon School Long Lane Bursledon 62 4

A

Chandlers Ford Infant School Kings Road Chandlers Ford 32 5B

Freeground Infant & Junior School Hobb Lane Hedge End 32 4 C

Fryern Infant & Junior School Oakmount Rd ChandlersFord

28 3 C

Hamble County Primary School Hamble Lane 3 0 C

Hiltingbury Infant & Junior School Hiltingbury Rd ChandlersFord 1 0 C

Kings Copse Primary School Kings Copse Rd Hedge End 3 0 C

Merdon Junior School Merdon Ave & Brownhill RoadChandlers Ford

3 0 C

Netley Abbey Infant School Priory Road/Westwood RoadNetley

2 0 C

Nightingale County Infant School Blackbird Rd. Eastleigh 3 1 C

Scantabout Primary School Peverells Wood Ave Chandlers

Ford

2 0 C

Shakespeare Junior & Infant School St. Catherines RoadBoyatt Wood

5 0 B

Sherbourne House School Lakewood Rd Chandlers Ford 6 0 B

St James Primary School Monarch Way West End 2 0 C

St Swithun Wells Primary School Hillcrest Ave ChandlersFord

1 0 C

Stoke Park Junior School Abbotsbury Road Bishopstoke 66 0 A

Stoke Park Junior School Underwood Road Bishopstoke 31 1 B

Toynbee School Bodycoats Road Chandlers Ford 14 2 0

Wildern Secondary School Wildern Lane Hedge End 60 6 A

Wyvern College + Fair Oak Junior School Botley Road FairOak

60 3 A

Twice a week visits A

Once a week visits B

Once every 13 weeks C


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Disabled Parking

25. The Blue Badge scheme provides a national range of parking concessions fordisabled people with severe mobility problems.

26. The regulations for enforcement of Blue Badge parking bays is a key priorityto ensure only Blue Badge holders can park within these bays. All the Town

Centre disabled bays are patrolled daily to ensure a high level of compliance.

Traffic Management Act 2004

27. On 31st March 2008, the Government replaced Decriminalised ParkingEnforcement (DPE) across the country with Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE),which is carried out under the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA).

28. The new legislation represents the largest single shift in the way parkingenforcement is conducted since the Road Traffic Act 1991. TheGovernments aim is to provide consistency by creating a single framework for

parking regulations across the country. It ensures a fair system is in placeand requires Councils to be more transparent and accountable.

29. In line with the new legislation, the Council has introduced many changes tothe way it deals with appeals and enforce parking regulations, for example:

(a) Challenges received prior to the issue of a Notice to Owner orEnforcement Notice must now be dealt with; prior to TMA, this wasoptional. However, this practice was already adopted prior to the newlegislation.

(b) A Penalty Charge Notice no longer needs to be placed on a vehicle, orhanded to a driver to be properly served.

(c) Parking Attendants are now known as Civil Enforcement Officers.

30. Other less obvious changes have taken place; the emphasis by CentralGovernment was on the Local Authoritys duty to show transparency andfairness. The Council has welcomed this approach and has actively looked athow services can be further improved in line with the new legislation.

Differential Parking Penalties

31. Differential parking penalties also came into effect on the 31st March 2008 aspart of the Traffic Management Act.

32. The Governments aim is to make the system fairer. Higher penalties areissued to motorists who park where it is not generally permitted. For example,on yellow lines, the footway, school Keep Clear markings, or in residents,permit or disabled bays without displaying the appropriate permit or badge.

33. The less serious contraventions, which incur the lower charge, includecontraventions such as, overstaying time paid for in a pay and display bay, or

parking outside bay markings.

34. In circumstances where a driver parked in a permit bay and submits evidencein the form of a visitors voucher valid for the date of the contravention, the


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Council will accept the evidence as confirmation that the driver was visiting aresident and the lower charge will apply.

Key Performance Indicators

35. The key performance indicators for the parking service are listed below.

Target ActualLetters responded to within 10 days 100% 99.5%% of pcns that resulted in a appealto TPT

1% 0.2%

School enforcement visits 500 477Visits to parish centres (1 per day) 303 325

Financial Performance 2007/08 and 2008/09

On-Street Income and Expenditure

36. The table listed below gives a breakdown of the income and expenditure foron-street income and expenditure.

Decriminalised Parking

2007/08 Outturn

2008/09 Outturn

Parking Services 346,358 348,738

Property 8,965 15,730

Supplies & Services (includesdeferred charges)

70,639 44,905

Admin. Costs 15,688 17,253Recharges from ServiceUnits/Practice Accounts

26,256 24,912

Payment to Agencies 0 801

Asset Rental 4,714 5,539

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 472,620 457,878

Gov Grants Deferred -10,402 -7,761Fees & Charges -380 -588

Licences/Permits -805 -1,415

Admission -132,821 -170,027

Season Tickets -55,718 -63,370Penalty Charge Notices -265,410 -231,621

TOTAL INCOME -465,536 -474,782Total (SURPLUS) DEFICIT 7,084 -16,904The surplus in 2008/09 has been transferred to the on-street parking reserve toreduce deficit on the account.

37. The on-street budgets show a small surplus during 2008/09 against a deficitthe previous year. The main reduction in expenditure during 2008/09 is inreduced costs mainly caused by deferred charges. The main increase inincome is due to increased usage and tariffs raised in on-street town centre

charges and the introduction of charges along Chestnut Avenue.


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Off-Street Charges

38. The table listed below gives a breakdown of the income and expenditure foroff-street parking (includes pay and display and non pay and display).

Car Park

2007/08 Outturn

2008/09/Outturn

Parking Services 274,413 289,093Property 281,699 251,652Supplies & Services (includesdeferred charges)

101,368 118,162

Admin. Costs 2,896 4,142Recharges from ServiceUnits/Practice Accounts

16,708 14,486

Payment to Agencies 0 4,190

Asset Rental 92,850 92,136TOTAL EXPENDITURE 769,934 773,861

Gov Grants Deferred -6,256 -78,712Fees & Charges -122,275 -187,940Admission -955,122 -1,032,831Permits -93,986 -101,321Penalty Charge Notices -121,449 -115,214Misc Income -70,219 -75,843Legal Fees -345 0Rents -8,489 -8,443

TOTAL INCOME -1,378,141 -1,600,304

Total (SURPLUS) DEFICIT -608,207 -826,443

39. There has been a slight increase on expenditure during 2008/09 which wasdue to deferred charges for Swan Centre car park areas and an increase instaff costs.

40. The income did show considerable levels on growth due in part by increasedtariff charges and increased usage of the car parks. It should also be notedthat penalty charge income was lower than last year due to changes as part ofthe Traffic Management Act 2004, which reduced the penalty charge fees ona number of parking contraventions as detailed in paragraphs 29 32 of thisreport.

Spending of the Surplus

41. The expenditure of income derived from parking places is governed by theTraffic Management Act 2004, Section 88, and the Road Traffic RegulationAct 1984, Section 55(a) and confirms the specific areas for surplusexpenditure as follows:

Funding the provision of the parking service; Meeting all or any part of the cost of the provision of off-street car park

maintenance;


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Facilitating the provision of public/passenger transport; and

Traffic or highway improvements within the Borough.

42. The parking surplus for civil parking enforcement helps to reduce the on-streetparking reserve which before this years surplus was added, stood at a deficitof 360,252. The on-street revenue is for capital funding on residentialparking schemes and the start up costs for civil parking enforcement.

43. The on-street reserve is set aside for Capital Funding Parking Schemes suchas capital set up costs for residents parking schemes and capital costsassociated with setting up decriminalised parking.

44. The off-street surplus of 826,443 contributions to the following on-goingrevenue costs which is funded by the Council.

Concessionary Travel 1,080,966

Nite Bus Service 42,104

Public Transport 190,142

Transport to Hospitals 20,416

TOTAL 1,333,628

45. To replace the nett income surplus received as a result of the parking tradingaccount, the council tax for the Borough would need to increase by some14%.

Off-Street PCNs

Year Off-Street PenaltyCharge Notices

2008/09 5,5202007/08 4,826

46. The 2007/08 figures follow similar lines although in the future the amount ofpenalty charge notices are liable to drop due to the introduction of the pay on

foot parking scheme introduced in the Swan Centre roof top car park.

47. The number of penalties issued has been compared between 2008/09 and2007/08. The 2008/09 figure shows an increase in the number of penaltycharge notices. The location where the pcns have been issued is shownbelow.

Location Description Issued Out2008/09

Issued Out2007/08

Bishopstoke Road Playing Fields Car Park 19 30Car Park at the rear of the Dolphin 56 80

Hamble Foreshore Car Park 227 0Hamble Square Car Park 318 0Hanns Way Car Park 265 260


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Location Description Issued Out2008/09

Issued Out2007/08

Hedge End Railway Station Car Park 85 0Itchen Valley Country Park Car Park 213 180Lakeside Country Park 60 41Leigh Road Car Park 277 162

Multi Storey Car Park 427 615Multi Storey Car Park Basement 38 65Multi Storey Car Park Ground 587 514Romsey Road Car Park 571 491Southampton Road Car Park 98 52Swan Shopping Centre 2,175 1,820Twyford Road Car Park 102 120Wells Place Car Park(Car park closed due to redevelopment)

2 396

TOTALS 5,520 4,826

48. The main reason for the increase against the previous year is the new payand display station car parks which are being enforced at Hamble and HedgeEnd.

49. It is anticipated that the level of pcns will fall during 2009/10 as the SwanCentre roof top car park is no longer pay & display but changed to a pay onfoot parking system.

50. The table listed below gives a further breakdown of payments made at thevarious formal stages, adjudication, cancelled and debt registration.

TMA ON-STREET ANNUAL SUMMARY

Issue Date From: 01/04/2008 Issue Date To: 31/03/2009 Appeal Date To: 30/06/2009

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices issued for parkingcontraventions

7,335Number of Penalty ChargeNotices Paid at Non-Discount 828

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices paid within 14 days 4,378

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices Formal Representation(at current state)

14

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices paid after 14 days but

before service of chargecertificate

586Number of Penalty ChargeNotices Informal Representation

(at current state)

36

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices paid after chargecertificate served

217Number of Penalty ChargeNotices Cancelled AppealUpheld

23

Number of cases going foradjudication 16

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices Cancelled (OtherReasons)

256

Number of charge certificatesregistered 950

Number of cases registered fordebt 406

Number of cases where no

further action is taken 1,302


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51. The on-street pcns follow similar lines as previous years with 60% paymentsmade before the 14 day discount period and only 5.5% of the pcns going todebt registration.

On-Street PCNs

Year On-Street Penalty

Charge Notices2008/09 7,3352007/08 9,035

52. It should be noted that there has been a fall in the number of penalty chargenotices issued on-street.

53. To give further information a breakdown of the number of pcn notices issuedand paid at the varying fine levels and the payment amount are also attachedin Appendix C.

54. The local areas where each pcn has been issued are listed below.

2008/09 2007/08

Bishopstoke, Fair Oak & Horton Heath 88 134

Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice & Hound 335 245Chandlers Ford & Hiltingbury 213 152

Eastleigh 6,336 8,120

Hedge End, West End & Botley 363 384

55. The major reduction is in the Eastleigh residents parking area, which is anindication that motorists are becoming more aware of the restrictions and not

parking illegally.

Off-Street PCNs

56. The table listed below gives a further breakdown of payments made at thevarious formal stages.

TMA OFF-STREET ANNUAL SUMMARY


Number of Penalty ChargeNotices issued for parkingcontraventions

5,520Number of Penalty ChargeNotices Paid at Non-Discount 529

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices paid within 14 days 3,447

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices FormalRepresentation (at currentstate)

8

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices paid after 14 days butbefore service of chargecertificate

371Number of Penalty ChargeNotices InformalRepresentation (at currentstate)

18

Number of Penalty Charge

Notices paid after chargecertificate served

140

Number of Penalty Charge

Notices Cancelled AppealUpheld

13

Number of cases going foradjudication 12

Number of Penalty ChargeNotices Cancelled (Other 125


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TMA OFF-STREET ANNUAL SUMMARY


Reasons)

Number of charge certificatesregistered 436

Number of cases registered fordebt 212

Number of cases where nofurther action is taken 1,163

57. As to be expected 62% of payments are made within 14 days of the noticeissued to obtain the discount fee.

58. It should also be noted that only 3.8% of the pcns issued are registered fordebt, with the Courts.

Challenges and Representations Received

59. Where a parking contravention occurs, it is the owner/registered keeper ofthe vehicle, who is legally obliged to pay the penalty charge. The ownermeans the person by whom the vehicle is kept, which in the case of a vehicleregistered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (c22) ispresumed to be the person in whose name the vehicle is registered at theDVLA. It is therefore essential that any changes of vehicle ownership areimmediately notified to the DVLA.

60. The only exception to this is where the vehicle was hired from a firm under ahiring agreement and the person hiring it had signed a statement of liability inrespect of any penalty charge notice served in respect of the vehicle during

the period of the agreement.

61. Vehicle owners may dispute the issuing of a pcn at three stages:

(1) They can make an informed challenge or representation before theCouncil issues a notice to owner (NTO). As a challenge at this stagewill be made by the person who has received the pcn, it may be thatthe person submitting the challenge was the driver of the vehicle,rather than the vehicle owner.

(2) Once an NTO has been served, they can make a formal representation

against the NTO. (This can still be done if an informal challenge haspreviously been made and rejected). The legislation sets out specificgrounds on which formal representation against an NTO may be madeand are specified on the notice. Representations may also be made onthe basis that, in the particular circumstances of the case, there arecompelling reasons for the cancellation of the pcn.

(3) If the formal representation is rejected, the Council will issue a Noticeof Rejection and details of Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The appellant hasthe right to appeal within 28 days of the issue of the Notice of Rejectionto an adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The adjudicators have

a judicial position. They are appointed with the agreement of the LordChancellor and they are wholly independent. Their decisions are final(subject to their own power to review a decision) and they have thepower to award costs against either party. No further challenges can


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be made other than a point of law through an application to the HighCourt for a Judicial Review. Appellants may choose to appear beforethe adjudicator in person or via a postal hearing where written evidenceis supplied by both parties.

62. The details of the adjudication services and of the appeal process can befound on their website www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk.

Policies for the Handling of Appeals

63. The process of considering challenges, representations and defence ofappeals is a legal process. It is necessary for the Council to keep a full andaccurate record of all challenges. This is why the Council asks that allrepresentations are made in writing (by letter, email or by completing one ofits appeal forms either on line or at the Civic and Town Centre Offices). TheCouncil has the discretion to cancel a pcn at any point in the appeals process.

64. The penalty charge notices issued during 2008/09 have been broken down to

show the number of appeals received and rejected by the varying penaltycharge notice fine levels and if issued either on or off street. The results areshown on Appendix D.

65. The cancellation of pcns is further broken down and the reasons forcancellation.

66. The Councils cancellation and mitigation polices against which challenges,representations or appeals are considered can be found on the Councilswebsite www.eastleigh.gov.uk.

67. The results confirm that 12,855 notices were issued in the year, 9468 paid orpart paid (73.65%), 2,495 cancelled (19.04 %) and 254 (1.97%) written off.There are currently 687 (5.34%) notices outstanding. The collection andcancellation rate is in line with previous years and therefore is an indication ofa fair and consistent approach.

Appeals to Traffic Penalty Tribunal

68. During 2008/09 a total of 28 appeals were made to the Adjudication Services.During this period the Council chose not to contest 7 appeals. This wasmainly due to new information being provided by the appellant for example,

information on the keeper of the vehicle or supporting documentary evidenceto confirm loading.

69. A total of 7 appeals were allowed at appeal and 14 refused. It should benoted that the levels of appeals that go before the Adjudication Services isonly 0.2% of penalty charge notices issued.

FUTURE PLANS

70. There will be a number of changes to the parking service during 2009/10which are listed below.

The implementation of pay on foot system (already successfully installed).
http://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/http://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/


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Mobile telephone payments on all on and off street pay and display carparks.

The upgrading of hand held terminals with GPRs.

The introduction of a new residents parking zone in Falkland Road.

The enforcement of drop kerb and double parking contraventions.

DUNCAN MCVEYHead of Transportation and Engineering

Date: 1 September 2009Contact Officer: Wayne BaileyTel No: 023 8064 8121e-mail: [email protected] Attached: 4 No.Report No: EN1112

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 - SECTION 100D

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report or animportant part of it is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in thepreparation of this report:

None.

eastleigh bc sept 2009

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