London Borough of Bexley

Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report

1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010

London Borough of Bexley

Annual Report
2009/2010

Listening to you, working for you www.bexley.gov.uk

 Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010

Contents

1. Introduction and Scope of Annual Report Page 2

2. Parking Enforcement Policy Page 3

3. Enforcement Service Page 4-5

4. Performance Charts Page 6-7

5. Car Parks Page 8

6. Financial Information Page 9

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 Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010

1. Introduction and Scope of Annual Report

The main statutory regulations that The Council aims to:
govern the civil parking enforcement
• Provide fair and consistent parking
service provided by the London
services throughout the Borough
Borough of Bexley (the Enforcement
• Be transparent about its
Authority - EA) and its contractor
parking enforcement activities
for the above period (Vincipark Ltd)
• Accept accountability for the
are set down in Part 6 of the Traffic
quality of service it delivers.
Management Act 2004 (TMA 2004).

The Council intends to demonstrate that

The regulations cover the processes
it has achieved the above by publishing
involved in issuing, serving, challenging
a consistent set of statistics and financial
processing and recovering penalty
information each year which will form
charges and should be followed by
part of this annual performance report.
the EA, its contractor and motorists.
The Council will also publish further
Within the regulations there is a
information such as the number of
requirement for the EA to publish an
PCNs issued, the percentage paid,
annual performance report and this
the percentage cancelled and other
is the second formal report, (with the
processing related information.
first being published for 1 April 2008
to 31 March 2009). An informal report
is also available for 1 April 2007 to 31
March 2008 (published before the TMA
regulations came into effect). The above
reports as well as other parking related
information, such as procedural guidance,
permit application forms, Penalty Charge
Notice challenge forms, etc can be found
on Parking Services web pages www.
bexley.gov.uk/service/parking/index.htm.

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 Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010

2. Parking Enforcement Policy

The Council’s main parking

enforcement policy objectives are:

• To maintain public safety on

the public highway and in Council
operated car parks through fair
but robust enforcement of parking
restrictions and regulations

• To ensure that traffic is able to

flow freely through the borough by
deploying adequate resources to
main thoroughfares and bottle neck
junctions to minimise the disruption
caused by illegally parked motorists

• To improve motorist compliance

with parking controls through firm
but fair enforcement practices

• To ensure that parking demand

for residents, businesses, visitors and
shoppers is met through the provision
of quality permit and paid for parking
services and strict enforcement action is
taken against illegally parked motorists
.• To maintain public access to
services and amenities and ensure
that the public highway can be
used by all in particular those with
disabilities or special requirements, the
vulnerable, the elderly and children

• To keep the carriageways

clear of illegally parked vehicles
maintaining access for essential
vehicles, such as emergency
services and commercial deliveries

• To promote greener methods of

transport and reduce congestion on the
roads by implementing and enforcing
new traffic management schemes
designed to assist movement throughout
the borough, such as walking, cycling and
increasing the use of public transport.
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3. Enforcement Service
In 2009/2010 approximately 25
Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs)
were employed by Vincipark Limited
(the contractor) to carry out civil
parking enforcement duties on behalf
of the Council. The CEOs were
deployed throughout the borough
as a whole, through a mixture of
walking and mobile patrols.
In addition, three Mobile In-car
Camera Enforcement (MICE)
vehicles were provided as support:
• At locations where traditional Council Officers to determine liability in
methods of enforcement had not been
as effective at achieving compliance
as the Council would have liked
• At schools to address the patrols to ensure that certain roads are
dangerous practice of stopping
where stopping is not permitted or
blocking the pavement endangering
pedestrians and in particular children
• At bus stops to ensure that public on mobile beats (using several vehicles)
services were maintained for all users
• At locations where the Council was illegal parking and locations where it
aware of congestion and / or obstruction
being caused by illegally parked vehicles
All CEOs are uniformed and carry
identification at all times, they also have
unique identifier numbers and hand held
computers so that their movements
can be tracked by the Council for
monitoring and performance purposes.
The MICE vehicles are highly visible,
with the logos of both the Council
and the enforcement contractor on
Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010
prominent display, as well as camera
enforcement signs on the vehicles.
CEOs are required to make detailed
notes of all Penalty Charge Notices
(PCNs) issued, using their hand
held computers and hand written
notebooks. Where possible (although
it is not a mandatory requirement),
CEOs are encouraged to obtain digital
evidence to support the issue of each
PCN. All evidence submitted by each
party, (including digital images), will
be considered by trained Authorised
respect of communication received from
motorists challenging the issue of PCNs.
CEOs are mainly deployed on fixed beat
visited at a suitable frequency, such beat
patrols can usually be found around
Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs), busy
town centres and local community
shopping areas. CEOs are also deployed
to patrol the borough and visit locations
reported by the public as suffering from
would not be practical to send walking
patrol CEOs. Mobile units are deployed
on a borough wide basis and operated
freely and outside of fixed beat patrols.
The performance of CEOs is measured
on the quality of service they provide
and how well they assist in meeting
both the contractual objectives
contained within the civil parking
enforcement contract and the overall
objectives of the Council in respect of
the parking services it offers. Specific
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 Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010

3. Enforcement Service(continued)

targets for the issue of PCNs are
not set, nor are CEOs offered any
inducement or bonus payment based
on the number of PCNs issued.
Any PCN issued which is subsequently
cancelled on the basis that the CEO
did not discharge their duties correctly
when issuing the PCN, or where the
evidence reviewed by the Council is
deemed inadequate or not of sufficient
quality, results in a contractual penalty
against the Contractor and dependent
on the severity of the failure may also
result in further penalties against the
contractor and possibly the CEO as well.
Differential charges were introduced
across London on 1 July 2007.
Since their introduction the penalty
charge issued is dependant on
the category of contravention.
The Council carries out all processing,
investigating, and responding to incoming
communication and public enquiries
relating to PCNs. Trained Authorised
Council Officers consider all challenges
made against PCNs issued, objectively
and consistently, taking into consideration
all evidence provided and any mitigation
offered in defence. The statutory
process also provides for an independent
review of a PCN through the Parking
and Traffic Appeal Service (PaTAS).
The following charts provide details
of key civil parking enforcement
statistics for the period 1 April 2009
to 31 March 2010. They represent a
snap shot of that period and it should
be noted that due to the timescales
associated with processing PCNs some
cases span across reporting periods.

There are two categories, “More

Serious” and “Less Serious”. More
Serious contraventions, such as parking
on yellow lines, on the pavement,
stopping on restricted bus stops, or
stopping on white or yellow zig zag
markings etc, are issued at a higher
charge than the Less Serious ones,
such as over-staying on time purchased
at a meter or pay and display area.

The Council has concentrated it’s

resources on addressing the more
serious contraventions within the
borough as these contraventions impact
significantly on the key performance
objectives of maintaining public
safety and keeping traffic flowing.

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 Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010

4. Performance Charts
Chart 1 – Breakdown of the 54,583 PCNs issued 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.

This is a reduction of 4% on the

previous year however, payment rates
!

have increased by 1 % reflecting the

ongoing improvements made to the
quality and provision of the service.
This includes improvements to the
quality of PCNs issued through a
programme of performance monitoring,
and training of all staff involved in
the provision of parking services.

Chart 2 – Breakdown of the type of PCNs issued 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010.

Off street refers to PCNs issued in

one of the Council’s 21 car parks.
MICE refers to PCNs issued by Mobile
In-car Camera Enforcement, (all
MICE PCNs are issued on street)

Chart 3 – Most common contraventions based on PCNs

issued between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010

The remaining PCNs were issued across a further 27 contraventions

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 Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010

Chart 4 – Breakdown of PCNs issued between 1 April 2009 and

31 March 2010 for More Serious and Less Serious Contraventions.
The more serious contraventions include
such areas as school and pedestrian
zig zag markings, waiting and loading
restrictions and footway parking. There
has been an increase of nearly 10%
from the previous reporting period
(1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009), of
the number of PCNs issued against
the more serious parking contraventions as opposed to PCNs issued against the
less serious contraventions. This is directly in line with the Council’s policy and
demonstrates resources are focussed on the most serious contraventions.

Chart 5 – Representations received 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.

There were 15,147 Representations

received between 1 April 2009
and 31 March 2010 against PCNs
issued for the same period.

Chart 6 – Outcome of appeals related to PCNs issued 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.

It should be noted that only 2% of PCNs issued were appealed.

• Refused means that the appeal lodged

against the Council was not successful and
the penalty charge was deemed payable
• Allowed means the appeal lodged against
the Council was successful and payment
of the penalty charge was not required
• Not Contested means that the Council
did not provide a defence against the appeal
lodged – usually on the basis that the motorist presented further evidence which had not
been provided before to show that they were not liable for the penalty charge. This would
result in further recovery action being taken by the person taking on liability for the PCN.

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 Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010

5. Car Parks
The Council is committed to maintaining
safe and secure car parks. Improvements
have been undertaken in a number of
Council car parks including enhanced
Closed Circuit TV (CCTV), improved
emergency help points, improved lighting,
security fencing, internal decoration,
layout changes and up-dated signing.
This has culminated in the Association
of Chief Police Offices and the British
Parking Association awarding the
Council the prestigious Safer Parking
Award for 17 of the Council’s car parks.
These awards are reviewed annually and
standards must be maintained to retain
the awards with annual inspections
being undertaken by the Metropolitan
Police and British Parking Association.
resulting in the installation of improved
quality CCTV cameras for public
safety and improved help points
• Redesign of the layout of
several major car parks to increase
occupancy levels and reduce the
potential of accidents occurring
• The appropriation of land and the
construction of a new public pay and
display car park in Sidcup to improve
the facilities available to the public and
visitors and users of local amenities

The Council currently operates a total of

21 public car parks across the Borough,
in all but one of the car parks motorists
are required to purchase a purchase
a pay and display ticket to cover the
duration of their stay. In Arnsberg Way,
Bexleyheath, there is a car park for
Blue Badge holders only and payment
for using this car park is not required.

A Capital investment programme

of improvement works was
undertaken in the previous reporting
period and this has resulted in:
• Improvements to the efficiency
and quality of lighting in several
major car parks throughout the
borough, with other similar initiatives
being considered for the future
• Major electrical wiring overhaul
of the Cinema multi storey car park

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6. Financial Information
The following chart shows how the
Council spent the total on-street
income (£2, 975000), it received from
paid for parking fees and recovered
penalty charges for the period of
this report. No surplus has been
carried over to 2010/11 and some
activities, such as parking permits
have been operated at a net loss.
Annual Civil Parking Enforcement Report 2009/2010
All expenditure is in accordance with
statutory regulations as set down in the
TMA and the Road Traffic Regulation
Act 1984 (as amended). The Council’s
parking account is provided to the
Mayor of London’s office (Transport for
London) in accordance with regulations.
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