STRATEGIC PLANNING, SUSTAINABILITY AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE				9 February 2016
Is the final decision on the recommendations in this report to be made at this meeting?					Yes
Parking Services’ Annual Report 2014/2015
Final Decision-Maker		Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation Committee
Lead Head of Service		Paul Spooner Interim Director of Planning and Development
Lead Officer and Report Author		Matt Cotton Service Coordinator
Classification		Public
Wards affected		All
This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:
1.   That the Committee considers the Annual Report and agrees to publish on the Council’s website; in accordance with the Statutory Guidance published by the Secretary of State for Transport under section 87 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.
This report relates to the following corporate priorities:
·         Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all. By managing driver behaviour Parking Services reduces instances of dangerous and antisocial parking on street and within off street car park locations.
Timetable
Meeting			Date
Strategic Planning Sustainability and Transportation Committee.			9 February 2016

Parking Services’ Annual Report 2014/2015

 

1.        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

1.1     To present Parking Services’ Annual Report 2014/2015 to the Committee. The report details the Council’s achievements last year in providing civil parking enforcement services and confirms all associated income and expenditure.

 

2.        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

2.1     The Secretary of State for Transport has published Statutory Guidance (updated November 2015) under section 87 of the Traffic Management Act 2004. This guidance outlines the importance of transparency and the benefits of regular and consistent reporting to assist the public in understanding Civil Parking Enforcement activity.

 

2.2     The guidance recommends that enforcement authorities should produce an annual report to detail all performance and activities.

 

2.3     Reporting is an important part of accountability. The transparency given by regular and consistent reporting should help the public understand civil parking enforcement.

 

2.4     Monitoring also provides the authority with management information for evaluating performance, helping to identify where it may need to improve. It also provides a framework for performance comparisons between councils.

 

2.5     The report should be published and as a minimum it should cover financial and statistical data (as indicated in 2.6 to 2.18 below).

 

Financial

 

2.6     Total income and expenditure on the Council’s On and Off Street parking accounts, kept under section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as modified by regulation 25 of the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations 2007.

 

2.7     Breakdown of income by source (i.e. on-street parking charges and penalty charges).

 

2.8     Total surplus / deficit on the parking account.

 

2.9     Action taken with respect to a surplus / deficit on the parking account.

 

2.10 Details of how any financial surplus has been, or is to be, spent including the benefits that can be expected as a result of such expenditure.

 

 Statistical

 

2.11  Number of higher level penalty charge notices issued.

 

2.12  Number of lower level penalty charge notices issued.

 

2.13  Number of penalty charge notices paid.

 

2.14  Number of penalty charge notices paid at discount rate.

 

2.15  Number of penalty charge notices against which an informal or formal      representation was made.

 

2.16  Number of penalty charge notices cancelled as a result of an informal or a   formal representation.

 

2.17  Number of penalty charge notices written off for other reasons (e.g. an     error by the civil enforcement officer or driver untraceable).

 

2.18 As a result, an Annual Report has been prepared (Appendix A) detailing:

 

-      Introduction

-      Background to Parking in the Borough of Maidstone

-      Parking Policy

-      Civil Parking Enforcement

-      Penalty Charge Notices

-      Parking Provision and Services (local Pay & Display car parks, various parking permits and season tickets)

-      Statistical Information (On and Off Street parking and financial performances.

 

3.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

 

3.1     Publish the Annual Report on the Council’s webpages.

 

3.2     Do not publish the Annual Report. This will be inconsistent with the requirements of the Secretary of State for Transport Statutory Guidance and be contrary to data transparency, of which better informs the public of Civil Parking Enforcement activity.

 

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

4.1     The recommended option is to publish the Annual Report as this will conform to the statutory requirements and allow data transparency with the public.

 

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

5.1       There are no requirements under the Secretary of State for Transport Statutory Guidance to consult prior to publication of an Annual Report.

 

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

6.1     If the recommendation is agreed, Parking Services will duly instruct the Web Team to publish the Annual Report.

 

 

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

 

Issue	Implications	Sign-off
Impact on Corporate Priorities	Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all by managing driver behaviour and reducing instances of dangerous and antisocial parking both on street and within off street car park locations.	Parking Services Manager
Risk Management	Publishing data on Civil Parking Enforcement activity reduces the risk of challenge and accurately informs the public whilst meeting the requirements of data transparency.	Parking Services Manager
Financial	There are no financial implications in producing and publishing the Annual Report.	Finance Team
Staffing	No implications
Legal	The production and publication of the Annual Report is recommended by statutory guidance.
Equality Impact Needs Assessment	No implications.	Clare Wood, Policy & Information Officer
Environmental/Sustainable Development	No implications.
Community Safety	No implications.
Human Rights Act	No implications.
Procurement	No implications.
Asset Management	No implications.

 

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix A: Parking Services’ Annual Report 2014/2015

 

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

None.