Agenda item

Roy Clark (Parking Services Manager) introduced a report detailing the enforcement of parking management schemes within Hillingdon.

The officer provided a summary of the information presented within the report, including detail on the decriminalisation of parking enforcement in London in 1994 and the powers granted to local authorities to enforce parking, granted by the Road Traffic Act 1991.

Mr Clark went on to describe the process by which offenders were ticketed, as well as the appeals process open to residents and motorists. It was confirmed that the Council had engaged a private contractor to carry out enforcement in the Borough since 2003, with the current contract under consideration for renewal in August 2021.

Members were advised that the contractor operated 24 distinct patrol areas, using approximately 50 staff, visiting permit controlled parking areas and stop and shop areas across the Borough, with the aim of managing congestion and keeping roads safe.

Parking outside schools was of particular concern, with automated cameras deployed at all schools with school zig zags. Parking Civil Enforcement Officers would then visit schools on a rota basis, with patrols increased at certain schools where there were reported issues.

CCTV was also used to monitor parking offences, with 131 total cameras used to monitor areas such as bus lanes, bus stops, banned turns etc. It was confirmed that the use of CCTV to process offences was very highly regulated and linked to legislation, with councils issued guidance to which they had to adhere.

It was confirmed that, contrary to popular opinion, parking Civil Enforcement Officers were not permitted to be part of a bonus scheme whereby they received remuneration based on the number of tickets issued.

Members asked a number of questions, including:

If parking on pavements was an offense, why were Council vehicles often seen parking on pavements?

A national consultation was currently underway regarding how such pavement parking was to be managed moving forward, as the rules were different in London from the rest of the country. However, currently, parking on pavements in London was prohibited, unless Council permitted. Council vehicles should not be parking on pavements, and if Members wished to forward details of particular vehicles to the Parking Manager, this would be investigated.

Ward Councillors had been contacted regarding a number of schools experiencing issues with parking. Was this a result of Covid19, and the staggered intake implemented to manage social distancing? Was there any additional capacity available to better manage parking around schools?

The Parking Services team had received an increased number of complaints regarding parking around schools this year. The Council had extended operating and keep clear times to manage staggered intakes. Schools received visits from parking enforcement officer each day, though there was not capacity for every school to receive a visit every day. The Council, with its contractor, was reviewing the potential to recruit additional enforcement officers on a part time basis, though in the past this had proven difficult.

Did all school have CCTV cameras in place?

All schools with zig zags should have cameras, though some were out for repair. It was requested that Members share details of schools where cameras were required, for further investigation.

Could the officer provide an update on the installation of new parking machines? Several had been out of order for considerable time.

The contract to replace the Borough’s machines was now in place, and officers were actively working with the contractor to install the machines by the end of November. Old machines would then be removed in December.

Stop and Shop schemes were being abused. How could the Council work to address this?

Officers were looking at ways to address this, and a further update could be brought to a future meeting.

Residents had complained of experiencing delays to the processing of their fines and appeals. Was this due to any change to resources during the pandemic?

The team had continued to work throughout the lockdown, and there was no backlog to the processing of fines or appeals. Members were requested to forward details of individual cases for investigation.

Was there a long-term plan to deal with idling vehicles, to help support the aim of improving air quality?

Parking civil enforcement officers often dealt with idling vehicles, in conjunction with the Antisocial Behaviour and Environment team. Air quality was to be addressed in agenda item 7.

Did patrols take into account the population density of areas? For example, West Drayton Ward had a large population which had resulted in more parking issues.

Patrols often targeted areas where there were known to be issues. The Parking Services team worked together with the transport team to identify such areas, and patrols were increased in those areas where necessary.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.