Civil Parking Enforcement
Cornwall Council Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010
August 2010
Transportation Service
Civil Parking Enforcement Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010
Introduction 3
Policy 3
Structure 4
Finance 4
Results 5
Future 7
Civil Parking Enforcement Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010 2 August 2010 Introduction On 5 May 2008 the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (County of Cornwall) Designation Order 2008 came in to force. Responsibility for enforcing on street parking restrictions passed from the police to the then Cornwall County Council. During 2008/09 the County Council carried out enforcement in conjunction with Carrick District Council and Restormel Borough Council (the other district councils refused the County Council’s invitation to participate in Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE)) the resulting structure was as follows:
CPE organisation in Cornwall 2008/09
Authority Area Covered
Carrick District Council Carrick – on and off street parking
Restormel Borough Council Restormel – on and off street parking
Cornwall County Council Penwith, Kerrier, Caradon and North Cornwall – on street parking only
During 2009/10, although Cornwall was a unitary authority, the 2008 Designation Order did not allow for CPE in the car parks of Penwith, Kerrier, Caradon and North Cornwall so therefore parking enforcement continued to operate as it had in 2008/09. This report provides information on the CPE operation and gives a brief outline of the future of parking in Cornwall.
Policy Enforcement objectives are compatible with those of The Local Transport Plan (LTP):- • To reduce congestion, and thereby • To improve air quality • To maximise safety • To support economic regeneration These objectives formed the basis for determining enforcement priorities and levels. Criteria were developed based on existing hierarchies of roads and on the strategic importance given to towns and villages by the LTP.
Civil Parking Enforcement Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010 3 August 2010 Structure Given that a parking enforcement during 2009/10 was carried out under two differing legislations, with officers unable vary between the two, the distribution of officers was as follows:
CPE organisation in Cornwall 2009/10
Civil Car Operational Area Enforcement Park Officers Officers
West 5 4 (Penwith and Kerrier)
Central 23 - (Carrick and Restormel)
East 6 10 (North Cornwall and Caradon)
Finance The table below shows a summary of Cornwall Council’s Civil Parking Enforcement account.
Cornwall Council CPE Account 2009/10
£
Enforcement and other costs 936,097 (includes costs of CEOs transport, uniforms & equipment)
Processing costs 187,735
Total costs of operation 1,123,832
Income from PCNs 937,651
Net cost of CPE -186,181
Parking income from CPE car parks 5,551,160
Running costs 1,289,232 (not including CPE costs)
Civil Parking Enforcement Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010 4 August 2010 Results The number of PCNs issued and a breakdown of information with regards to payments and appeals is shown below. This breakdown only includes data of PCN’s that were issued in areas where CPE was in force, this excludes the car parks of Penwith, Kerrier, North Cornwall and Caradon, where Excess Charge Notices were issued under The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.
PCNs issued throughout Cornwall 2009/10
On-Street Off-Street Total
Number of Higher Level PCNs 19399 682 20081
Number of Lower Level PCNs 3815 8249 12064
Total number of PCNs issued 23214 8931 32145
Number of PCNs paid 17548 6124 23672
Number of PCNs issued that were 14114 4922 19036 paid at the discounted rate
Number of PCNs issued against which an informal or formal representation - - 8365 was made
Number of PCNs that were cancelled as a result of an informal or formal - - 1674 representation
Number of PCNs written off for other - - 327 reasons
Number of vehicles immobilised Cornwall Council does not carry out vehicle immobilisation or Number of vehicles removed removal
Number of appeals to Adjudicator - - 142
Number of appeals refused - - 57
Number of appeals not contested - - 23
Percentage of PCNs issued at the - - 62.5 Higher Level
Percentage of PCNs issued at the - - 37.5 Lower Level
Percentage of total PCNs issued that - - 73.6 have been paid
Civil Parking Enforcement Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010 5 August 2010 Percentage of total PCNs issued that - - 80.4 were paid at the discounted rate
Percentage of PCNs issued against which an informal or formal - - 26 representation was made
Percentage of total PCNs issued that have been cancelled as a result of an - - 5.2 informal or formal representation
Percentage of total number of PCNs that have been written off for other - - 1 reasons
Percentage of total number of PCNs - - 0.4 taken to Adjudicator
Percentage of appeals to the Adjudicator refused (found in favour of the - - 40.1 Council)
Percentage of appeals to the Adjudicator not contested by the - - 16.2 Council
Surveys of parking contraventions are regularly carried out to monitor the effectiveness of CPE. The table below shows the number of contraventions pre-CPE and those following CPE (CPE commenced in May 2008)
On-street Parking Contraventions
Spring Spring Spring Summer Summer Summer 2007 2009 2010 2007 2008 2009 (Pre CPE) (Pre CPE)
Truro 169 39 46 215 68 51
Looe 22 9 17 27 14 7
Liskeard 47 18 48 56 32 15
Civil Parking Enforcement Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010 6 August 2010 Future Following the establishment of the unitary authority, Cornwall Council, the 2008 Designation Order was replaced by The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions Designation Order 2010 which came into force with effect from 1 April 2010.
CPE is now operated in all Cornwall Council car parks. To enable CPE to be carried out across the county a single interim Off Street Parking Order has been implemented to replace the varying Parking Orders from the previous Districts and Borough, although with this single Parking Order there are still variances in some policies across the county. Work is currently underway with the Cabinet – Parking Policy Advisory Panel with a view to implement a new Parking Order by April 2011. This Order will standardise all parking charges and policies countywide. The Cabinet – Parking Policy Advisory Panel has considered the following whilst determining charging levels: • Results of public consultation on the structure of charging which took place between February and April 2010. • Feedback from Business groups. • Reports on town centre economics and sustainable travel issues. • The need for the income from car parking to fund Council services. Charging levels are currently subject to a Member consultation, when this consultation is closed the results will be analysed, and a final proposal compiled. These proposals will then be subject to a full public consultation. The patrol routes that the Enforcement Officers follow were originally drawn up in 2008, these now need reviewing to reflect the addition of the car parks that didn’t originally form part of CPE and also to allow for any on street parking restrictions that have since been implemented. In conjunction with these revised patrol routes the Council’s CPE procedures are currently being revised to take into consideration the changes in working practices since the 2010 Designation Order has come in to effect.
Civil Parking Enforcement Annual Parking Report April 2009 – March 2010 7 August 2010
Prepared by:
Simon Clark
Programme Manager – Parking Policy
Transportation Service
August 2010
If you would like this information in another format please contact:
Cornwall Council County Hall Treyew Road Truro TR1 3AY
Telephone: 0300 1234 100
Email: [email protected] www.cornwall.gov.uk