Agenda item

The Panel are to receive a Civil Parking Enforcement Overview Presentation.

Mr Peter Lowe, R.T.A. Associates, was in attendance to give the Panel an overview presentation on Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE). Before beginning the presentation Mr Lowe informed Members of his background and experience in the area of CPE.

The Panel was informed of the legislation underpinning CPE. Specifically, that Road Traffic Act 1991 and the Traffic Management Act 2004 gives local authorities to power to enforce parking contraventions.

When informing Members of the benefits of CPE, Mr Lowe stated that: the revenue of the Penalty Charge Notice go to the Local Authority, as opposed to a Police Fixed Penalty Notice which goes to central government; the Council decides the enforcement required and applied; new traffic management schemes, such as resident parking schemes, can be introduced and enforced; and CPE provides encouragement for motorists to use car parks.

Members were informed of the disadvantages including: there is no going back once CPE is introduced; there is an increased workload for the Council with increased expectations on service provision and CPE is not a major revenue earner.

Mr Lowe also informed Members of: the national position, background issues, the steps to implementation, service delivery options, charging for parking and the way forward.

The Chairman reminded Members of the background CPE has at Huntingdonshire District Council, including that the Council had considered taking on CPE in 2015 but at the time the Cabinet did not support adopting it.

A Member asked could a Parish or Town Council take on CPE if the District Council does not. In response, Members were informed that the County Council would have to submit an application, for CPE, to the Government on behalf of the District Council to cover every Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) within the boundary of Huntingdonshire. If the District Council does not take on CPE then Parish and Town Councils cannot bypass the District and enforce themselves. If the District Council does take on CPE, then Parish or Town Councils have the option to purchase additional resources from the District to specifically enforce TROs within their Parish or Town.

Following a question, in regards to which authority has to pay for the painting and maintenance of lines, the Panel was informed that the responsibility lies with the County Council. Although, the District, Parish or Town Councils can fund the painting of and maintenance of lines. In addition, it was clarified that the Highways Authority doesn’t have to paint lines and erect sign and that this could be done by the District, Parish or Town Council so long as the County Council agrees and completes the administration.

A concern was raised that CPE would be expensive to set up and run, in response Members were informed that there is a feasibility study which the Strategic Review of Car Parking Task and Finish Group will review before a recommendation is made from the Group to Cabinet. It was reiterated that the recommendation would be seen by Overview and Scrutiny before it was presented to Cabinet.

Another Member raised a concern regarding the set up costs and asked would the Council have to enforce all the TROs at the same time when adopting CPE. In response, the Panel was informed that all TROs would have to be enforced. However, following a further question about TROs, Members were informed that until six months before adoption the Council could remove, or add, TROs.

In response to a question of how CPE would affect Blue Badge Holders, the Panel was informed that all that would change is that the rules would be enforced and that Blue Badge Holders would have to adhere to the rules that apply to them.

The Panel would like to thank Officers for arranging the overview presentation on CPE.